# Rugby League Pacific Championships

The Rugby League Pacific Championship is a rugby league tournament for national teams in Oceania. Its inaugural tournament was in 2019 as the "Oceania Cup".
The tournament replaced the Anzac Test Series (1997–2017), which solely featured Australia and New Zealand as a single match annual test. Before the Pacific Championships, regular regional competition between the other Oceanian countries was sporadic since the cessation of the Pacific Cup (1974–2009) which served as a development competition for the Pacific Islands.

## History

The tournament was created in 2019 as the Oceania Cup with a two tiered format. 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 scheduled to take Fiji's place in the shield. 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 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tournament returned in 2023, following the pandemic and postponed 2021 Rugby League World Cup, under the name Pacific Championships. The tournament came as part of a $7 million investment by the NRL and Australian Government to develop rugby league in the surrounding countries, in addition to forming part of the International Rugby League new seven year international calendar.
2024 saw the introduction of the women's competition. Note women's games were held in 2023, but as a series of friendlies and in no structured competition. The 2024 Women's Bowl also acted as the Asia-Pacific qualification tournament for the 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup. For 2024 onwards, promotion and relegation would not be automatic and would occur via a playoff.

## Format

The Pacific Rugby League Championship is a competition for men's national teams of the seven full member of International Rugby League (IRL) located in Oceania:
* Australia
* Cook Islands
* Fiji
* New Zealand
* Papua New Guinea
* Samoa
* Tonga
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 two matches in a single round robin with the top two advancing to the division final.
The women's competition, introduced in 2024, followed a very similar format and similarly is for women's national teams of the Oceanian IRL full members:
* Australia
* Cook Islands
* Fiji
* New Zealand
* Papua New Guinea
* Samoa
* Tonga
Like the men's, the tournament is divided into two divisions. Though, unlike the men's, the lower tier contains four teams as no regular touring schedule has been planned for the women's sides.

## Men's Tournaments

| Cup | Cup | Cup | Cup | Bowl | Bowl | Bowl | Bowl | Team on Tour |
| Year | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Year | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Team on Tour |
| 2019 | Australia | New Zealand | Tonga | 2019 | Fiji (Promoted) | Samoa | Papua New Guinea | None |
| 2020 | Cancelled: New Zealand, Tonga, and Fiji (R) | Cancelled: New Zealand, Tonga, and Fiji (R) | Cancelled: New Zealand, Tonga, and Fiji (R) | 2020 | Cancelled: Samoa (P), Papua New Guinea, and Cook Islands | Cancelled: Samoa (P), Papua New Guinea, and Cook Islands | Cancelled: Samoa (P), Papua New Guinea, and Cook Islands | Kangaroo tour of England |
| 2021–2022: No tournament due to the 2021 Rugby League World Cup (held in 2022) |||||||||||||
| 2023 | New Zealand | Australia | Samoa | 2023 | Papua New Guinea | Fiji | Cook Islands | Tonga tour of England |
| 2024 | Australia | Tonga | New Zealand | 2024 | Papua New Guinea | Fiji | Cook Islands | Samoa tour of England |
| 2025 | Tonga, Samoa, and New Zealand | Tonga, Samoa, and New Zealand | Tonga, Samoa, and New Zealand | 2025 | Cook Islands, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea | Cook Islands, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea | Cook Islands, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea | Australia hosting England |
| 2026: No tournament due to the 2026 Rugby League World Cup |||||||||||||

### Promotion and relegation anomalies

* 2019/20: Tonga avoided relegation as Australia would were scheduled to tour England the following year freeing up an additional space in the 2020 tournament.
* 2020/23: Following the tournament's rebrand as the Pacific Championships and the extended time between editions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the delayed 2021 World Cup, previous promotions and relegations were nullified and teams were reseeded based on rank.
* 2023/24: No relegation was planned between the 2023 and 2024 edition with Tonga and Samoa touring England in these respective years. Tonga who did not participate in 2023 replaced Samoa who did not participate in 2024.

### Results by team

| Team / Year | 2019 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Australia | 1st | 2nd | 1st |
| Cook Islands | — | 6th | 6th |
| Fiji | 4th | 5th | 5th |
| New Zealand | 2nd | 1st | 3rd |
| Papua New Guinea | 6th | 4th | 4th |
| Samoa | 5th | 3rd | Tour |
| Tonga | 3rd | Tour | 2nd |

#### 2024–present promotion/relegation playoff winners

* 2024: New Zealand (cup team)

## Women's Tournaments

| Cup | Cup | Cup | Cup | Cup | Bowl | Bowl | Bowl | Bowl | Bowl | Bowl |
| Year | | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Year | | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place |
| 2024 | | Australia | New Zealand | Papua New Guinea (Relegated) | 2024 | | Samoa (Promoted) | Fiji | Cook Islands and Tonga | Cook Islands and Tonga |

### Results by team

| Team / Year | 2024 |
| Australia | 1st |
| Cook Islands | 6/7th |
| Fiji | 5th |
| New Zealand | 2nd |
| Papua New Guinea | 3rd |
| Samoa | 4th |
| Tonga | 6/7th |

#### Promotion/relegation playoff winners

* 2024: Samoa (bowl team)