Oceania Rugby Women's Championship Explained

Upcoming Season:2024 Oceania Rugby Women's Championship
Pixels:50px
Oceania Rugby Women's Championship
Sport:Rugby union
Inaugural:2016
Teams:4
Countries:


Champ Season:2024
Most Successful Club:
(4 titles)
Website:oceania.rugby

Oceania Rugby Women's Championship is an international women's rugby union competition contested by women's national teams from Oceania.[1] The current Champions are Samoa who claimed their first Oceania title at the Championship in Australia. Fiji has won the most titles with four.

History

The Oceania Rugby Women's Championship was introduced in 2016, and since its inception, also serves as a Rugby World Cup qualification tournament.

Before the establishment of the Championship there were few international fixtures for women's rugby in the region which hindered its progress. Matches were restricted to occasional test matches as part of the Rugby World Cup qualification process. It was established to provide more regular and consistent international competitions for the region.

The first tournament was held in 2016 in Suva, the match was between Fiji and Papua New Guinea as a part of the Rugby World Cup 2017 qualification. The Fijiana's won and moved onto a Repechage tournament against Hong Kong and Japan.

2018 saw Samoa and Tonga join Fiji and Papua New Guinea in Lautoka. Fiji were the eventual victors.

In 2019, six teams contested the title, with development squads from Australia and New Zealand joining their Pacific neighbours in Lautoka.[2] The Black Ferns Development XV won the 2019 Oceania Championship in Lautoka, Fiji.[3]

The 2020 Championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] In 2022, Fiji won the Oceania Championship to clinch their third title.[5] [6] [7]

Samoa created history in winning their first Oceania Championship title and confirmed their place for WXV 2 in the inaugural WXV tournament, Fiji as runners-up qualified for the WXV 3.[8] [9]

Champions

YearVenueTeamsWinnerRunner-upThirdFourth
2016 Suva2
2018 Lautoka4
2019 Lautoka6
2020Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021
2022 Pukekohe4
2023 Gold Coast4
2024 Brisbane4

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.worldrugby.org/news/201157Oceania Fiji and PNG set for historic qualifier
  2. Web site: Women's Championship - 2019. 2021-11-20. oceania.rugby. en.
  3. Web site: November 2019 . Oceania Rugby Women's Championship 2019: trophy lift . live . https://archive.today/20200324235322/https://www.world.rugby/photo/542727 . 24 March 2020 . 24 March 2020 . World Rugby.
  4. Web site: Oceania Rugby Women's Champs cancelled. 2021-11-29. FijiTimes. en.
  5. Web site: 2022-07-17 . Fijiana win Oceania Rugby Womens Championship in a thriller . 2022-07-18 . oceania.rugby . en.
  6. Web site: Deo . Rohit . 2022-07-18 . Fijiana 15s win Oceania tournament . 2022-07-18 . FijiTimes . en.
  7. Web site: Krishant . Naveel . 2022-07-17 . Fijiana 15's win Oceania Rugby Women's Championship . 2022-07-18 . www.fijivillage.com . en.
  8. Web site: 2023-06-04 . Cassie Siataga inspires Samoa to first Oceania crown . 2023-06-05 . www.world.rugby.
  9. Web site: Cama . Akuila . 2023-06-05 . Fijiana 15s falls, Samoa creates history . 2023-06-05 . Fiji Broadcasting Corporation.