Pacific Cup

Pacific Cup
Sport Rugby league football
Instituted 1974
Tournament Director Brian Canavan[1]
Number of teams 5
Region Pacific region (RLIF)
Holders  Papua New Guinea (2009)
Most titles  New Zealand Māori (4 titles)

The Pacific Cup is a rugby league football competition for international teams from the Pacific region.

Contents

History

The Pacific Cup was started in 1975 by Keith Gittoes of the New South Wales Rugby League.{[2] It was held twice in the 1970s before being abandoned due to cost.

The competition was revived in 1986, and held biennially until the 1996 competition was postponed. Instead a 1996 Pacific Challenge was held. The Super League ran an Oceania Cup in 1997.

The Pacific Cup was revived by the New Zealand Rugby League once again in 2004, this time as a secondary competition to the Pacific Rim Championship. It was again held in February and March 2006 under NZRL administration, this time as a main competition.

Re-launch

In the post-2008 Rugby League World Cup shake up of the international calendar by the RLIF, it was confirmed that a Pacific Cup was to be held in 2009 with the winner of the tournament entering the 2010 Four Nations tournament.

The 2009 tournament was hosted by Papua New Guinea.[1] The competing teams were Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga.[1]

A Pacific Cup is also scheduled to be held in 2011.

Pacific Cup details

Date Winner Score Runner-up Location Other teams
1975  New Zealand Māori 38–13  Papua New Guinea Lloyd Robson Oval, Papua New Guinea  Victoria,  Western Australia[3]
1977  New Zealand Māori 35–12  Western Australia Carlaw Park, New Zealand  Victoria,  Northern Territory,
 Papua New Guinea
1986  New Zealand Māori 23-6  Western Samoa Rarotonga, Cook Islands  Cook Islands,  Tonga,
 Niue,  Tokelau
1988  New Zealand Māori 19–24  Western Samoa Apia, Western Samoa  Cook Islands,  Tonga,
 American Samoa,  Tokelau
31 October 1990  Western Samoa 26–18  New Zealand Māori Nuku'alofa, Tonga  Papua New Guinea,  Tonga,
Australian Aboriginies, Friendly Islands,
 Tokelau,  Niue
1992  Western Samoa 18–14  Tonga Auckland, New Zealand  Cook Islands, Australian Aboriginies,
 Fiji,  American Samoa
 Tokelau,  Norfolk Island,
 New Zealand Māori,  Niue
1994  Tonga 34–11  Fiji Suva, Fiji  Western Samoa,  Cook Islands,
Australian Aboriginies,  American Samoa,
 Fijian Presidents XIII, Rotuma
 New Zealand Māori,  Niue
1996
as Pacific Challenge Series
No final played
  Fiji,  Papua New Guinea,
 New Zealand Māori,  Tonga,
New Zealand XIII,  Cook Islands,
 Western Samoa
1997
as Oceania Cup		 New Zealand XIII 20–15  New Zealand Māori Auckland, New Zealand  Papua New Guinea,  Tonga,
 Cook Islands,  Fiji
23 October 2004
as Pacific Rim Championship		  Cook Islands 52–18  New Zealand Māori North Harbour Stadium, New Zealand  Samoa,  Tonga,
 Niue,  Fiji
5 March 2006  Tonga 22–4  Fiji Waitemata Stadium, New Zealand  New Zealand Māori,  Samoa,
 Cook Islands,  Tokelau
1 November 2009  Papua New Guinea 42-14  Cook Islands Lloyd Robson Oval, Papua New Guinea  Tonga,  Fiji,
 Samoa

References

  1. ^ a b c ARL (Press Release) (2009-07-28). "Pacific Cup announced". Australian Rugby League. http://www.australianrugbyleague.com.au/news/article.php?id=1323. Retrieved 2009-07-29. 
  2. ^ International Competitions The Vault
  3. ^ John Coffey, Bernie Wood (2008). 100 years: Māori rugby league, 1908-2008. Huia Publishers. pp. 193. ISBN 1869693310, 9781869693312. http://books.google.com/books?id=nklWo8vw-iIC&printsec=frontcover. 
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