The Pacific Nations Cup 2024 will be played across five weekends from 23 August to 21 September 2024. It features six teams, initially playing across two pools and then in knock-out rounds to produce an overall champion.
Pool phase
In the pool phase, the six teams are split into two regional pools, where they will play each other in one home-or-away match:
Pool A - Fiji, Samoa, Tonga
Pool B - Canada, Japan, USA
Finals Series
After the pool phase all six nations will travel to either Japan or USA (on alternate years) to compete in the knock-out Finals Series where the two best-ranked teams in each pool will play the semi-finals (A1 v B2 and B1 v A2) and the third-ranked teams will compete in the 5th-6th play-off.
The third-place play-off and final will be played on the final weekend crowning the Pacific Nations Cup champion.
Everything you need to know about the Pacific Nations Cup
As the rebranded cross-regional competition prepares to kick-off on 23 August, we take a look at a tournament with a rich history and an even brighter future.
A brief history
2006 to 2009 - the three Pacific island nations of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga competed against representative sides from New Zealand (either Junior All Blacks or NZ Maori) and Australia (Australia A).
2010 to 2012 - the tournament was a four-team competition featuring Japan.
2013 - Canada and USA joined a tournament featuring Fiji, Japan and Tonga. Samoa did not compete.
2016 and 2017 - the tournament only featured Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, while Canada, Japan and USA played in respective regional qualifiers for Rugby World Cup 2019.
2018 - Georgia was invited to compete in a tournament hosted in Suva, Fiji.
2019 - Canada, Japan and USA all returned for a six-team tournament held in the run-up to RWC 2019.
2020 and 2021 - the tournament was not held due to the Covid pandemic.
2022 - Fiji, Samoa and Tonga were joined by Australia A.
2023 - Australia A were replaced by Japan.
Champions by year
2006 Junior All Blacks
2007 Junior All Blacks
2008 New Zealand Maori
2009 Junior All Blacks
2010 Samoa
2011 Japan
2012 Samoa
2013 Fiji
2014 Japan and Samoa (each won their conference)
2015 Fiji
2016 Fiji
2017 Fiji
2018 Fiji
2019 Japan
2022 Samoa
Latest News
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Resilience key to Fiji’s Pacific Nations Cup success
We take a look at the reasons behind the Flying Fijians’ triumph in Japan as a new crop of stars came to the fore over five glorious weeks.
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Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup: Brilliant Fiji claim sixth title
Fiji put in a dominant second-half performance to silence the Hanazono Rugby Stadium crowd and claim a 41-17 victory against Japan and record-stretching sixth Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup title after Samoa had beaten USA 18-13 to finish third.
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Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2024: Final preview
All the information you need as the cross-regional competition gets ready for an explosive finale. Fiji take on Japan for the title after USA and Samoa compete for third place.
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Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2024: All-action hosts Japan join Fiji in final
Japan will face five-time Pacific Nations Cup champions Fiji in Saturday’s decider in Osaka, while Samoa take on USA in the third-place play-off.
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Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup: Five-time champions Fiji book place in final
USA made Fiji work for their semi-final victory, after Tonga claim fifth place with a strong performance against Canada.
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Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2024: Semi-finals preview
All the information you need to know as the cross-regional competition enters the knockout phase. Semi-finalists Fiji, Japan, USA and Samoa all still have hopes of lifting the trophy, while Tonga and Canada are competing for fifth place.
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Six takeaways from round three of the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2024
We pick out six talking points from the third weekend of the reimagined cross-regional competition as Fiji and Japan win again.
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Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2024: Round three preview
Everything you need to know about the final round of the cross-regional competition’s pool stage as Tonga host Fiji before Japan take on USA.
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Six takeaways from round two of the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2024
We pick out six talking points from the second weekend of the cross-border competition as Samoa and USA secure wins.
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Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2024: Round two preview
All the information you need to know as the cross-regional competition enters the second round with games between Samoa and Tonga and the USA and Canada.
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Six takeaways from round one of the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup
We pick out six talking points from the first weekend of the cross-border competition as Fiji and Japan both kick off the tournament with big wins.
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Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2024: Round one preview
All the information you need to know as the cross-regional competition kicks off this weekend with games between Fiji and Samoa and Canada and Japan.
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Big time! The Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup’s heaviest players
Some of the largest rugby players on the planet are set to collide in a titanic series of 11 matches over the next two months. We bring you six behemoths who will make the ground shudder.
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Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2024: Six players to watch
Ahead of the start of the reimagined cross-regional competition, we have picked out a player from each squad to keep an eye on.
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Everything you need to know about the Pacific Nations Cup
As the rebranded cross-regional competition prepares to kick-off on 23 August, we take a look at a tournament with a rich history and an even brighter future.
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Pacific Nations Cup team guide: USA
Everything you need to know about USA ahead of the Pacific Nations Cup (23 August-21 September).
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Pacific Nations Cup team guide: Tonga
Everything you need to know about Tonga ahead of the Pacific Nations Cup (23 August-21 September).
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Pacific Nations Cup team guide: Samoa
Everything you need to know about Samoa ahead of the Pacific Nations Cup (23 August-21 September).
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Asahi Super Dry becomes title sponsor of Pacific Nations Cup
World Rugby and Asahi Breweries Limited have announced that Asahi Super Dry will be the title sponsor and official beer of the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup, which kicks off on 23 August.
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Pacific Nations Cup team guide: Japan
Everything you need to know about Japan ahead of the Pacific Nations Cup (23 August-21 September).