2008 Pacific Rugby Cup

Last updated
2008 Pacific Rugby Cup
Countries Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji (2 teams)
Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa (2 teams)
Flag of Tonga.svg Tonga (2 teams)
Champions Flag of Tonga.svg Tautahi Gold
Matches played16
  2007
2009  

The IRB Pacific Rugby Cup 2008 was the third edition of the Pacific Rugby Cup competition. First held in 2006, the 2008 edition, like its predecessors, featured 6 representative rugby union football teams; 2 from each of the three Pacific rugby unions - Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.

Contents

Tautahi Gold beat Upolu Samoa 11 points to 3 in the grand final match to win the Pacific Rugby Cup for 2008, becoming the first Tongan team, and the first team outside of Samoa, to win the trophy.

Teams

The 6 participating teams were:

Format and schedule

The teams played a single round robin (home or away) series. The two top teams in the final standings met in the grand final match, with the first ranking team awarded home advantage.

The 2008 tournament followed the completion of Fiji's Colonial Cup, Samoa's National Provincial Championship and Tonga's Provincial Championship and provided the coaches of the three national teams with a competitive player development pathway just ahead of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2008.

Upolu Samoa began its title defence away to 2007 beaten finalists Tau'uta Reds in Nuku'alofa on April 19, while Fiji Warriors faced Tautahi Gold in Lautoka and 2006 champions Savaii Samoa played Fiji Barbarians in Apia. Four further rounds followed on consecutive weekends before the top two ranked teams contested the Grand Final on May 24.

Table

TeamPlayedWonDrawnLostForAgainstPoint DifferenceBonus PointsPoints
Upolu Samoa 54019049+41117
Tautahi Gold 53029775+22113
Savaii Samoa 530281810113
Fiji Barbarians 52037290-18210
Tau'uta Reds 52038495-1119
Fiji Warriors 510470104-3437
Source: oceaniarugby.com [1]

Match results

Round One

2008-04-18 Fiji Warriors 21-19 Tautahi Gold Churchill Park, Lautoka  
Savai'i Samoa 17-13 Fiji Barbarians Apia Park, Apia  
2008-04-19 Tau'uta Reds 12-20 Upolu Samoa Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa  

Round Two

2008-04-25 Fiji Barbarians 5-22 Upolu Samoa National Stadium, Suva  
2008-04-26 Savai'i Samoa 20-18 Fiji Warriors Prince Edwards Park, Savaii  
Tau'uta Reds 11-21 Tautahi Gold Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa  

Round Three

2008-05-02 Upolu Samoa 13-8 Fiji Warriors Apia Park, Apia  
Tautahi Gold 27-17 Savai'i Samoa Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa  
2008-05-03 Fiji Barbarians 25-24 Tau'uta Reds Lawaqa Park, Sigatoka  

Round Four

2008-05-09 Fiji Warriors 16-23 Tau'uta Reds Prince Charles Park, Nadi  
Tautahi Gold 20-0 Fiji Barbarians Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa  
2008-05-10 Upolu Samoa 9-14 Savai'i Samoa Apia Park, Apia  

Round Five

2008-05-16 Tau'uta Reds 14-13 Savai'i Samoa Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa  
2008-05-17 Fiji Warriors 7-29 Fiji Barbarians Subrail Park, Labasa  
Upolu Samoa 26-10 Tautahi Gold Apia Park, Apia  

Final

2008-05-24 Upolu Samoa 3-11 Tautahi Gold Apia Park, Apia  

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References

  1. "2008 Pacific Rugby Cup Fixtures and Results". Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions. 2008. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014.