Pacific Rugby League Championship

The Pacific Rugby League 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.

Oceania Cup
Current season or competition:
2023 Pacific Rugby League Championship
SportRugby league
Instituted2019
Inaugural season2019
Number of teams7
RegionOceania (APRL)
Holders Australia (2019)
Most titles Australia (1 title)
Broadcast partnerNine Network
Fox League
Sky Sport
Related competitionPacific Cup

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 schedule 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 has since been 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 Cup Bowl Team on Tour
Champions Runners-up Third place Champions Runners-up Third place
2019
Australia
New Zealand
Tonga
Fiji
Samoa
Papua New Guinea		 None
2020[lower-alpha 2]  New Zealand,  Tonga, and  Fiji  Samoa,  Papua New Guinea, and  Cook Islands Australia Kangaroo tour of England
2023
Samoa
Cook Islands		 Tonga Tonga tour of England
2024 TBA TBA TBA
2025 TBA TBA Australia Kangaroo tour of England
2027 TBA TBA New Zealand Kiwi tour of England
2028 TBA TBA Australia Kangaroo tour of England

Results by team
Team / Year20192023
 Australia1stTBA
 Cook Islands—6th
 Fiji4thTBA
 New Zealand2ndTBA
 Papua New Guinea6thTBA
 Samoa5th3rd
 Tonga3rdTour

Notes
  1. The Cook Islands did not participate in the inaugural 2019 edition
  2. Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

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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