Rugby League Pacific Championship Explained

Oceania Cup
Gov Body:APRL
Tv:Nine Network
Fox League
Sky Sport
Count:1
Most Champs:
Season:2023
Country:Oceania
Current Season:2024 Rugby League Pacific Championships
Countrytag:Region
Teams:7
Inaugural:2019
Founded:2019
Alt:2019 Oceania Cup logo
Pixels:150px
Related Comps: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.

History

The tournament was created in 2019 as the Oceania Cup 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

Year
CupShield/BowlTeam on Tour
style=background:gold;" Championsstyle=background:silver;" Runners-upstyle=background:#c96;" Third placestyle=background:gold;" Championsstyle=background:silver;" Runners-upstyle=background:#c96;" Third place

2019

2023
Tonga tour of England
2024 Samoa tour of England

Results by team

Team / Year20192023
6th
4th5th
6th4th
5th

Notes and References

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