The IRB Pacific Rugby Cup 2008 was the third edition of the Pacific Rugby Cup competition. First held in 2006, the 2008 edition, like its predecessors, featured 6 representative rugby union football teams; 2 from each of the three Pacific rugby unions - Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
| 2008 Pacific Rugby Cup | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  Fiji (2 teams) Samoa (2 teams) Tonga (2 teams) |
| Champions | Tautahi Gold |
| Matches played | 16 |
Tautahi Gold beat Upolu Samoa 11 points to 3 in the grand final match to win the Pacific Rugby Cup for 2008, becoming the first Tongan team, and the first team outside of Samoa, to win the trophy.
Teams
editThe 6 participating teams were:
- Upolu Samoa and Savaii Samoa from Samoa
- Fiji Warriors and Fiji Barbarians from Fiji
- Tau'uta Reds and Tautahi Gold from Tonga
Format and schedule
editThe teams played a single round robin (home or away) series. The two top teams in the final standings met in the grand final match, with the first ranking team awarded home advantage.
The 2008 tournament followed the completion of Fiji's Colonial Cup, Samoa's National Provincial Championship and Tonga's Provincial Championship and provided the coaches of the three national teams with a competitive player development pathway just ahead of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2008.
Upolu Samoa began its title defence away to 2007 beaten finalists Tau'uta Reds in Nuku'alofa on April 19, while Fiji Warriors faced Tautahi Gold in Lautoka and 2006 champions Savaii Samoa played Fiji Barbarians in Apia. Four further rounds followed on consecutive weekends before the top two ranked teams contested the Grand Final on May 24.
Table
editTeam Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Point Difference Bonus Points Points Upolu Samoa 5 4 0 1 90 49 +41 1 17 Tautahi Gold 5 3 0 2 97 75 +22 1 13 Savaii Samoa 5 3 0 2 81 81 0 1 13 Fiji Barbarians 5 2 0 3 72 90 -18 2 10 Tau'uta Reds 5 2 0 3 84 95 -11 1 9 Fiji Warriors 5 1 0 4 70 104 -34 3 7 Source: oceaniarugby.com[1]
Competition rules Points breakdown:
4 points for a win
2 points for a draw
1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less
1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match
Classification:
Teams standings are calculated as follows:
Most log points accumulated from all matches
Most log points accumulated in matches between tied teams
Highest difference between points scored for and against accumulated from all matches
Most points scored accumulated from all matches
Match results
editRound One
edit| 2008-04-18 | Fiji Warriors | 21-19 | Tautahi Gold | Churchill Park, Lautoka | ||
| Savai'i Samoa | 17-13 | Fiji Barbarians | Apia Park, Apia | |||
| 2008-04-19 | Tau'uta Reds | 12-20 | Upolu Samoa | Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa | ||
Round Two
edit| 2008-04-25 | Fiji Barbarians | 5-22 | Upolu Samoa | National Stadium, Suva | ||
| 2008-04-26 | Savai'i Samoa | 20-18 | Fiji Warriors | Prince Edwards Park, Savaii | ||
| Tau'uta Reds | 11-21 | Tautahi Gold | Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa | |||
Round Three
edit| 2008-05-02 | Upolu Samoa | 13-8 | Fiji Warriors | Apia Park, Apia | ||
| Tautahi Gold | 27-17 | Savai'i Samoa | Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa | |||
| 2008-05-03 | Fiji Barbarians | 25-24 | Tau'uta Reds | Lawaqa Park, Sigatoka | ||
Round Four
edit| 2008-05-09 | Fiji Warriors | 16-23 | Tau'uta Reds | Prince Charles Park, Nadi | ||
| Tautahi Gold | 20-0 | Fiji Barbarians | Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa | |||
| 2008-05-10 | Upolu Samoa | 9-14 | Savai'i Samoa | Apia Park, Apia | ||
Round Five
edit| 2008-05-16 | Tau'uta Reds | 14-13 | Savai'i Samoa | Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa | ||
| 2008-05-17 | Fiji Warriors | 7-29 | Fiji Barbarians | Subrail Park, Labasa | ||
| Upolu Samoa | 26-10 | Tautahi Gold | Apia Park, Apia | |||
Final
edit| 2008-05-24 | Upolu Samoa | 3-11 | Tautahi Gold | Apia Park, Apia | ||
References
edit- ^ "2008 Pacific Rugby Cup Fixtures and Results". Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions. 2008. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014.
External links
edit- FORU website Archived 2011-02-01 at the Wayback Machine