Rugby League Pacific Championship

Last updated
Oceania Cup
Current season or competition:
Rugby football current event.svg 2023 Rugby League Pacific Championships
Sport Rugby league
Instituted2019
Inaugural season2019
Number of teams7
Region Oceania (APRL)
HoldersFlag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand (2023)
Most titlesFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand (1 title)
Broadcast partner Nine Network
Fox League
Sky Sport
Related competition Pacific Cup

The Rugby League Pacific Championship is a rugby league tournament for national teams in Oceania. Its inaugural tournament was in 2019. Of the seven Oceanian teams, six compete across two divisions of three teams, while a rotating seventh goes on tour.

Contents

History

The tournament was created in 2019 with a two tiered format. [1] The top tier (cup) consisted of Australia, New Zealand and Tonga and the second tier (shield) consisted of Fiji, Samoa and Papua New Guinea.

Australia won the Cup in the inaugural season while Fiji won the shield and got promoted for the 2020 competition.

For the 2020 edition, Cook Islands were scheduled to take Fiji's place in the shield. [2] No team was relegated from the cup as Australia were going to go on a tour of England that year. The competition was scheduled to begin in June and conclude in November, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [3]

In 2023, International Rugby League announced the return of the tournament under the name Pacific Championships as part of a new seven years international calendar. [4]

Format

The Pacific Rugby League Championship is a competition for the seven full member of International Rugby League located in Oceania:

The tournament currently is divided into two divisions of three teams based on IRL rankings, while the seventh team tours a European Rugby League nation.

Each team plays three matches in a single round robin with the top two advancing to the division final.

Tournaments

YearCupShield/BowlTeam on Tour
ChampionsRunners-upThird placeChampionsRunners-upThird place
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Flag of New Zealand.svg
2019 		Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Australia 		Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand 		Flag of Tonga.svg
Tonga 		Flag of Fiji.svg
Fiji 		Flag of Samoa.svg
Samoa 		Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg
Papua New Guinea 		None [lower-alpha 2]
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Flag of New Zealand.svg
2020 [lower-alpha 3] 		Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand, Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga, and Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa, Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg  Papua New Guinea, and Flag of the Cook Islands.svg  Cook Islands Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kangaroo tour of England
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Flag of New Zealand.svg Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg
2023 		Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand 		Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Australia 		Flag of Samoa.svg
Samoa 		Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg
Papua New Guinea 		Flag of Fiji.svg
Fiji 		Flag of the Cook Islands.svg
Cook Islands 		Flag of Tonga.svg Tonga tour of England
2024 TBATBATBA

Results by team

Team / Year 2019 2023
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 1st2nd
Flag of the Cook Islands.svg  Cook Islands —6th
Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 4th5th
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2nd1st
Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg  Papua New Guinea 6th4th
Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 5th3rd
Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga 3rd Tour

Notes

  1. ↑ The Cook Islands did not participate in the inaugural 2019 edition
  2. ↑ New Zealand and Papua New Guinea hosted a tour by Great Britain in which Tonga also played, however all teams still participated in the 2019 Oceania Cup.
  3. ↑ Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

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References

  1. ↑ "RLIF Oceania Cup confirmed for 2019". rlif.com. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  2. ↑ "Oceania Cup is back with three cracking Double Headers". Asia Pacific Rugby League Confederation. 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  3. ↑ "Oceania Cup cancelled for 2020". Asia Pacific Rugby League Confederation. 2020-09-04. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
  4. ↑ https://www.intrl.sport/news/australia-new-zealand-png-to-host-2023-pacific-championships/
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