Pacific Cup

The Pacific Cup was a rugby league football competition, inaugurated in 1974, as a development competition for national teams from the Pacific region outside of Australia and New Zealand. The tournament ceased in 2009.

Pacific Cup

Sport	Rugby league
Instituted	1974
Ceased	2009
Replaced by	Pacific Rugby League Championship
Number of teams	6
Region	Pacific (Pacific International)
Holders	Papua New Guinea (2009)
Most titles	Māori (4 titles)
Related competition	European Cup

In 2019, a similar competition called the "Oceania Cup" was founded. This time it featured Australia and New Zealand, in addition to many of the Pacific Cup nations, who had since established themselves in the sport. The competition has a single edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was re-founded in 2023 as the Rugby League Pacific Championship.

History

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

The competition was revived in 1986 by Peter Donnelly. This was a true Pacific Cup with Polynesian players playing for their true country of origin rather than for the NZ Maoris as had previously been the case . The competition was 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.

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. The competing teams were Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga.

Appearances

Eighteen teams from ten nations have taken part in the 12 Pacific Cup tournaments held to date:

• Māori – 11 appearances
• Tonga – 10 appearances
• Samoa – 9 appearances
• Cook Islands – 7 appearances
• Fiji – 7 appearances
• Papua New Guinea – 6 appearances
• Tokelau – 5 appearances (1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 2006)
• Niue – 5 appearances (1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 2004)
• American Samoa – 3 appearances (1988, 1992, 1994)
• Australian Aborigines – 3 appearances (1990, 1992, 1994)
• New Zealand Residents – 2 appearances (1996, 1997)
• Western Australia – 2 appearances (1975, 1977)
• Victoria – 2 appearances (1975, 1977)
• Fijian Presidents XIII – 1 appearance (1994)
• Rotuma – 1 appearance (1994)
• Norfolk Island – 1 appearance (1992)
• Friendly Islands – 1 appearance (1990)
• Northern Territory – 1 appearance (1977)

Finals

Year	Host		Winner	Score	Runner-up		Losing semi	-finalists		Number of teams
1975	Papua New Guinea		Māori	38–13	Papua New Guinea		n/a	n/a		4
1977	New Zealand		Māori	35–12	Western Australia					5
1986	Cook Islands		Māori	23–6	Samoa		Tonga	Cook Islands		6
1988	Samoa		Māori	26–16	Samoa		Tonga	Cook Islands		6
1990	Tonga		Samoa	26–18	Māori		Tonga	Australian Aboriginies		8
1992	New Zealand		Samoa	18–14	Tonga		Māori	Australian Aboriginies		10
1994	Fiji		Tonga	34–11	Fiji		Samoa	Australian Aboriginies		9
1997	New Zealand		New Zealand Residents	20–15	Māori		n/a	n/a		6
2004	New Zealand		Cook Islands	26–16	Māori					6
2006	New Zealand		Tonga	22–14	Fiji					6
2009	Papua New Guinea		Papua New Guinea	42–14	Cook Islands		Tonga	Fiji		5

Results

Team	Titles	Runners-up	Semi-finals
Māori	4 (1975, 1977, 1986, 1988)	1 (1990)	1 (1992)
Tonga	2 (1994, 2006)	1 (1992)	4 (1986, 1988, 1990, 2009)
Samoa	2 (1990, 1992)	2 (1986, 1988)	1 (1994)
Cook Islands	1 (2004)	1 (2009)	2 (1986, 1988)
Papua New Guinea	1 (2009)	1 (1975)	-
New Zealand	1 (1997)	-	-
Fiji	-	2 (1994, 2007)	1 (2009)
Western Australia	-	1 (1977)	-
Australian Aboriginies	-	-	3 (1990, 1992, 1994)

See also

• Pacific Rugby League Championship