Oceania Rugby Men's Championship

The Oceania Rugby Men's Championship (formerly known as the Oceania Cup)[1] is an international rugby union competition for countries and territories from Oceania with national teams in the developmental band. It is administered by Oceania Rugby.

Oceania Rugby Men's Championship
Current season or competition:
2022 Oceania Rugby Men's Championship
SportRugby union football
Instituted2005
Number of teams3 (2022)
RegionOceania
Holders Papua New Guinea (2022)
Most titlesPapua New Guinea (7 titles)

The tournament has been played under various formats depending on the number and strength of the teams entered. The first competition was held in 1996-97 as part of the qualification process for the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

The competition was officially re-launched as the FORU Oceania Cup for the 2007 season. From 2009 onward, it has been held bi-annually and it has been played under a round robin format since 2011, with the title awarded to the leading team on the ladder after all matches are completed.

The 2009 champions were Papua New Guinea, who defeated the Cook Islands 29-21 in the final.[2] Papua New Guinea retained their title in 2011, winning the round-robin tournament over Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Niue.[3]

Cook Islands defeated Papua New Guinea 37-31 on the final day of the 2013 tournament, winning the tournament from the defending champions, with Solomon Islands third, and Tahiti fourth. The Cook Islands did not compete in 2015, and Papua New Guinea claimed their fourth title with Tahiti finishing as runner-up.[4]

Teams

Competing nations in the Oceania Rugby Cup are:


Note: The Tier 1 and 2 teams from Oceania (Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa, and Tonga) do not participate in the Oceania Rugby Cup.

Summary

Winners and runners-up for official FORU and IRB (WR) developmental tournaments in Oceania:

Year Winner Score Runner-up Match venue Refs
Oceania tournaments
1996*  Cook Islands round-robin  Papua New Guinea Rarotonga [5]
2002*  Papua New Guinea 29–14
16–21		  Cook Islands Port Moresby
Rarotonga		 [6]
2003  Niue round-robin  Cook Islands Auckland
Rarotonga		 [7]
2004  Cook Islands 50–5  Niue Rarotonga [8][9]
2005*  Cook Islands 37–12
11–20		  Papua New Guinea Rarotonga
Port Moresby		 [10]
2006The final of the 2006 FORU Cup between Vanuatu and Niue was cancelled. [11]
Oceania Cup
2007†  Papua New Guinea 46–27  Niue Paliati, Alofi [12]
2008  Niue 27–5  New Caledonia Noumea [13]
2009*  Papua New Guinea 29–21  Cook Islands Port Moresby [2]
2011  Papua New Guinea round-robin  Solomon Islands Port Moresby [3]
2013*  Cook Islands round-robin  Papua New Guinea Port Moresby [14]
2015  Papua New Guinea round-robin  Tahiti Port Moresby [15]
2017*  Tahiti 13–9  Cook Islands Rarotonga [16]
Oceania Championship
2019  Papua New Guinea round-robin  Niue Port Moresby [17]
2021Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic [18]
2022  Papua New Guinea round-robin  Solomon Islands Port Moresby [19]

Notes:

* Part of the Rugby World Cup qualification process.
† The final of the 2007 tournament was not held until April 2008. Starting from 2009, the tournament has been held biennially.

See also

Notes and references
  1. "Men's Championship - 2019". oceania.rugby. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  2. Crucial qualifiers IRB. (2009).
  3. PNG claim Oceania Cup IRB. (2011).
  4. "OCEANIA CUP 2015 / Points table". ESPN Scrum. 30 August 2015. Archived from the original on 31 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015. (Note: ESPN table is incorrect as bonus points have not been included.)
  5. "1999 Rugby World Cup Qualifier Results". ESPN Scrum. 1 September 1996.
  6. "2003 Rugby World Cup Qualifier Results". ESPN Scrum. 1 September 1996.
  7. "Oceania Cup". ESPN Scrum. 6 September 2003.
  8. "Oceania Cup". ESPN Scrum. 28 August 2004.
  9. It is unclear whether this competition included any other game apart from the one between Niue and Cook Islands
  10. The competition also served as rounds 1 and 2 of Oceania qualification for 2007 Rugby World Cup.
  11. "FORU Cup 2006 / Results". espnscrum.com. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  12. "Niue Island v Papua New Guinea at Paliati". ESPN Scrum. 22 April 2008.
  13. "Niue take Oceania Cup rugby union final". ABC Radio Australia. 1 September 2008. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008.
  14. "Cook Islands defeat PNG to claim Oceania Cup and keep Rugby World Cup dream alive". Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions. 2013-07-14. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  15. "Post Match Review ORC 2015 Final". Oceania Rugby. 31 August 2015. Archived from the original on 31 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  16. "Tahiti take home Oceania Rugby Cup". Oceania Rugby. 6 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  17. "Pupuks win 2019 Oceania Cup". Post-Courrier. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  18. "2021 Oceania Rugby Men's Championship cancelled". Oceania Rugby. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  19. "Men's Championship". Oceania Rugby. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
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