World Rugby unveil six-team 2024 Pacific Nations Cup

Run by World Rugby in partnership with the participating unions, the rebranded tournament is designed to drive competitiveness on the road to the expanded Men's Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia.

Along the way, it is hoped this new era for the Pacific Nations Cup can help create an annual competition that contains rivalries like those seen in the Men's Six Nations and Rugby Championship.

Embedded in the southern hemisphere international window, the tournament will combine with the two-division global calendar competitions launching in 2026 to provide unprecedented certainty of fixtures and opportunity for players and fans in Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and USA.

The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby tournament that was first staged in 2006 and will begin a new era with six teams in 2024.

Fiji, Samoa and Tonga have competed in all 16 editions since the inaugural tournament 18 years ago and have previously been joined by a variety of guest teams.

Japan have appeared in 12 editions of the Pacific Nations Cup to date, while USA and Canada â- who will complete the six-team line-up for 2024 and beyond â- have competed four times each.

The Junior All Blacks, New Zealand Māori, Australia A and Georgia each previously appeared in the competition at least once.

For the first time, this year's Pacific Nations Cup will be played in a round-robin two-pool format with a Grand Final deciding the overall champions.

Fiji, Samoa and Tonga will compete in Pool A, while Canada, Japan and USA make up Pool B. Each team will play one home and one away match during the pool stage.

A Finals Series has been introduced this year to decide the destination of the title, with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the semi-finals. The winners of those matches will contest a Grand Final, while the losers play off for third place.

The two teams who finish bottom of their respective pools will compete in a fifth-place play-off on the same day as the first semi-final on 14 September. The second semi-final will take place a day later at the same venue, the Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium.

This year's Finals Series will be played in Tokyo and Osaka, with hosting duties alternating between Japan and USA on an annual basis.

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