The 2024 Rugby League Pacific Championships are the third edition of the Rugby League Pacific Championships and the second under their current name (having previously been called the Oceania Cup in 2019). The championships consist of several international rugby league tournaments being played from October to November 2024 between nations of the Pacific region.
The competition format has been confirmed as Pacific Cup and Pacific Bowl competitions for both genders, with teams being divided in each case between higher-ranked and lower-ranked sides.[1]
The August 2023 announcement of the Pacific Rugby League Championships, by the NRL and Australian Government, indicated that Fiji and Australia would co-host the tournament in 2024.[3][4] In May 2024, Fiji National Rugby League chief executive Don Natabe announced that Fiji were expected to host five national teams in a month-long Rugby League festival.[5]
On 19 August 2024, news website Stuff reported that a men's match between New Zealand and Tonga had been scheduled for Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland on Saturday, 2 November 2024.[6] This was again reported three days later by The New Zealand Herald, going further with reporting New Zealand will host Australia on 27 October in Christchurch. The report also suggested that Samoa would not participate,[7] contrary to reports in England suggesting that Samoa had reduced the length of their tour of England from three to two matches in order to play both the tour and the Pacific Championships.[8][9] On 23 August 2024, the New Zealand Rugby League confirmed the fixtures for their men's and women's teams, including home matches in Christchurch and Auckland and an away match for the Kiwi Ferns in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.[1] A report on the NRL website confirmed that Australia's opening matches of the tournament would be a double-header at Suncorp Stadium on the weekend of 18-20 October, with the women playing Papua New Guinea and the men playing Tonga.[10] An exact date for this double-header was not specified.[10]
The remainder of the fixtures were announced in an NRL media release on 30 August 2024, apart from naming the venue, or venues, within Fiji for the games scheduled in that country.[11] The date of the opening fixtures at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane was announced to be Friday, 18 October 2024.
The media release of 30 August also announced the introduction of promotion and relegation matches between the third-placed Pacific Cup team and the first-placed Pacific Bowl team in both the men's and women's tournaments. This is a change in format from the 2023 Pacific Championships.
In the men's Pacific Bowl, the first-placed team (from the three teams competing) will be determined based on the three scheduled fixtures, without a final.
In the women's Pacific Bowl, the first-placed team (from the four teams competing) will be determined based on three knockout matches, with seedings based on IRL rankings. Two semi-finals will be held over the first two weekends, with a final on the third weekend of the tournament. The winner of the final will qualify for the promotion / relegation play-off to the 2025 Pacific Championship.[12]
The women's Pacific Bowl will also act as the Asia-Pacific qualifying tournament for the 2026 World Cup. The Bowl winners will become the seventh team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, while the runners up will go forward to the 2025 qualifying tournament to decide the eighth and final team to go to the World Cup.[12]
On 9 September 2024, the National Stadium in Suva was confirmed as the venue for the games that Fiji are to host on 19 and 26 October 2024.[13][14]
Australia were the first nation to announced their playing squads, on 7 October 2024. Playing squads for other nations will be announced closer to the tournament's 18 October 2024 commencement.
Six venues across four countries were selected to host the Championships.
Brisbane, Australia: Lang Park will host two matches on the evening of Friday, 18 October 2024, Australia playing Papua New Guinea in the women's Cup and Tonga in the men's Cup.
Suva, Fiji: National Stadium will host two-double headers (four games in all) on Saturday, 19 October and Saturday, 26 October 2024.
Auckland, New Zealand: Mount Smart Stadium will host two matches on 2 November 2024, the women's Bowl Final and a men's Cup match between New Zealand and Tonga.
Sydney, Australia: Western Sydney Stadium will host a quadruple-header on Sunday, 10 November 2024. The order of matches is: women's playoff, women's Cup final, men's playoff, men's Cup final.
The winner of the Women's Pacific Bowl Final played the third-placed team from the Women's Pacific Cup to determine promotion and relegation for the next edition of the tournament.
Announced on 30 September, Australia and New Zealand contested a two match test series on 1 and 4 November to coincide with the Pacific Championships. Both matches were played in Auckland.[42]
Approximately 6.2 million watch the men's tournament across all games showing a 40% increase from 2023; with the final attracting around 1 million television viewers, a 79% increase from 2023. The Pacific Bowl saw an average tournament increase of 35%. The women's tournament saw 1.4 million viewers across all matches with 353k watching the final. The Women's Bowl saw an 18% increase in television viewers.[38]
