2024 | Rugby League Pacific Championships|
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The 2024 Rugby League Pacific Championships are to be the third edition of the Rugby League Pacific Championship and the second under its current name (having previously been called the Oceania Cup in 2019). The championship will include a collection of international rugby league tournaments to be played from October to November 2024 between nations located in the Pacific region.
The competition format has been confirmed as Pacific Cup and Pacific Bowl competitions for both genders, with teams being divided between higher ranked and lower ranked sides respectively. [1]
The Asia-Pacific qualification tournament for the 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup will be integrated into the 2024 Pacific Championships as the Women's Pacific Bowl competition. [2]
The August 2023 announcement of the Pacific Rugby League Championships, by the NRL and Australian Government, indicated that Fiji and Australia would co-host the tournament in 2024. [3] [4] In May 2024, Fiji National Rugby League chief executive Don Natabe announced that Fiji were expected to host five national teams in a month-long Rugby League festival. [5]
On 19 August 2024, news website Stuff reported that a men's match between New Zealand and Tonga had been scheduled for Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland on Saturday, 2 November 2024. [6] This was again reported three days later by The New Zealand Herald, going further with reporting New Zealand will host Australia on 27 October in Christchurch. The report also suggested that Samoa would not participate, [7] contrary to reports in England suggesting that Samoa had reduced the length of their tour of England from three to two matches in order to play both the tour and the Pacific Championships. [8] [9] On 23 August 2024, the New Zealand Rugby League confirmed the fixtures for their men's and women's teams, including home matches in Christchurch and Auckland and an away match for the Kiwi Ferns in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. [1] A report on the NRL website confirmed that Australia's opening matches of the tournament would be a double-header at Suncorp Stadium on the weekend of 18-20 October, with the women playing Papua New Guinea and the men playing Tonga. [10] An exact date for this double-header was not specified. [10]
Playing squads will be announced closer to the tournament's October 2024 commencement.
Competition | Team | World ranking [11] | Coach | Captain | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pacific Cup | Australia | 1 | Mal Meninga | James Tedesco | [10] |
New Zealand | 2 | Stacey Jones | James Fisher-Harris | [12] [13] | |
Tonga | 5 | Kristian Woolf | Addin Fonua-Blake | ||
Pacific Bowl | Cook Islands | 10 | Karmichael Hunt | Brad Takairangi | |
Fiji | 6 | Wise Kativerata | Tui Kamikamica | ||
Papua New Guinea | 7 | Justin Holbrook | Kyle Laybutt |
Competition | Team | World ranking [11] | Coach | Captain | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pacific Cup | Australia | 1 | Brad Donald | Kezie Apps and Ali Brigginshaw | [10] |
New Zealand | 2 | Ricky Henry | Georgia Hale and Raecene McGregor | ||
Papua New Guinea | 5 | Ben Jeffries | Elsie Albert, Sera Koroi, and Belinda Gwasamun | ||
Pacific Bowl (Asia-Pacific qualification tournament for the 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup) | Cook Islands | 6 | Rusty Matua | Ngatokotoru Arakua | |
Fiji | 26 | Josaia Dakuitoga | Josephine Maejiirs | ||
Samoa | 24 | Jamie Soward | Niall Williams Guthrie | ||
Tonga | 14 | Kelvin Wright | Tiana Penitani |
The full list of venues is yet to be confirmed.
Referees and side-line officials are expected to announced closer to the mid-October 2024 commencement of the tournament.
Pos. | Team | Pld. | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff. | Pts. | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Australia | Advance to Final | ||||||||
2 | New Zealand | |||||||||
3 | Tonga |
NB: Samoa had intended to participate, however opted to a tour of England instead.
Pos. | Team | Pld. | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff. | Pts. | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Cook Islands | Advance to Final | ||||||||
2 | Fiji | |||||||||
3 | Papua New Guinea |
Men's Pacific Bowl fixtures are yet to be confirmed.
Pos. | Team | Pld. | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff. | Pts. | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Australia | Advance to Final | ||||||||
2 | New Zealand | |||||||||
3 | Papua New Guinea |
NB: All three teams have already qualified for the 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup.
The 2024 Women's Pacific Bowl will act as the Asia-Pacific qualification tournament for the 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup with all Pacific Cup teams having already qualified. First place team will qualify directly for the tournament, whereas the second place will qualify for the Inter-confederation playoffs which they will have to win to qualify for the World Cup. [14] [15]
The format of the Women's Pacific Bowl is yet to be confirmed.
The Papua New Guinea national rugby league team represents Papua New Guinea in the sport of rugby league football.
The Tonga national rugby league team represents Tonga in rugby league football. They are currently the fifth ranked team in the world. The team was formed to compete in the 1986 Pacific Cup, and have competed at six Rugby League World Cups, starting in 1995 and continuing consecutively until the most recent tournament. Their best result was at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, where they were semi-finalists.
The Cook Islands national rugby league team have represented the Cook Islands in international rugby league football since 1986. Administered by the Cook Islands Rugby League Association (CIRLA), the team has competed at three Rugby League World Cups, in 2000, 2013 and 2021, and are coached by Karmichael Hunt.
The 2004 Pacific Rim Championship and the 2004 Pacific Cup was the 9th Pacific Cup, a rugby league tournament held between Pacific teams. The tournament was hosted in Auckland and for the first time split into two competitions; The Pacific Rim Championship between national teams and the Pacific Cup between Auckland-based selections. In the final of the Pacific Rim competition the Cook Islands defeated New Zealand Māori 46-6 while Samoa XIII defeated Tonga XIII 52–18 to win the Pacific Cup.
The 2009 Pacific Cup, known as the 2009 SP Brewery Pacific Cup due to sponsorship, was a rugby league competition held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The competing teams were the Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga.
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The Samoa women's national rugby league team, also known as the Fetū Sāmoa, represents Samoa in Women's rugby league. They are administered by the Rugby League Samoa.
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The Cook Islands women's national rugby league team, also known as the Cook Islands Moana represents Cook Islands in Women's rugby league. The Cook Islands have competed in three Women's Rugby League World Cup tournaments.
The 2018 New Zealand rugby league tour of England was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team. The tour saw New Zealand play a three match series against and England for the Baskerville Shield. The hosts, England, won the series by two matches to one.
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A list of men and women international rugby league matches played throughout 2019 and does not include wheelchair rugby league international matches. A † denotes a recognised, but unofficial match that did not contribute to the RLIF World Rankings.
The Rugby League Pacific Championship is a rugby league tournament for national teams in Oceania. Its inaugural tournament was in 2019.
A list of men and women international rugby league matches played throughout 2022 and does not include wheelchair rugby league international matches. A † denotes a recognised, but unofficial match that did not contribute to the IRL World Rankings.
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