Canada and the US are to rejoin the Pacific Nations Cup this year in a rejigged two-stage six-team competition that ends with finals in Japan.
World Rugby said in a news release that it was “creating an annual competition and rivalries like those seen in the men’s Six Nations and Rugby Championship.”
It said the finals in the revamped annual competition would alternate between Japan and the US.
Photo:AFP
The cup is to start with two three-team groups in August with Fiji, Samoa and Tonga in one and Japan, the US and Canada in the other. Each must play one home game and one away game as they face the other two teams in their group once each.
All six countries are then to head to Japan in September for the finals, which are to open with the two third-place group finishers facing off and the two semi-finals. The following weekend the two semi-final losers are to play for third, while the winners meet in the final. The three games on the first weekend would be in Tokyo, and the two on the second weekend would be in Osaka.
Japan coach Eddie Jones told World Rugby that he was looking forward to the competition.
“The Pacific Nations Cup is really important for Japan, because it allows us to play regular tests against strong countries in tournament conditions, which is great practice for the players for the Rugby World Cup,” the former Australia and England coach said.
“The Pacific Nations Cup fits in right next to the Rugby Championship and Six Nations in providing that regular competition for Pacific nations,” he added.
“Tonga will take this challenge with a smile and a thumping heart,” acting Tonga Rugby Union CEO Aisea Aholelei said.
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper on Monday published an essay about Chinese basketball it said was written by LeBron James, but a representative for the NBA star said on Thursday that the article was based on a series of interviews. The paper, better known as the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, had said James authored the essay, “Basketball is a Bridge that Connects Us,” a tribute to Chinese players and fans of the sport written in the first person. “LeBron James Pens an Article in the People’s Daily,” read a post published on the newspaper’s official WeChat account. On Thursday, a representative
San Francisco Giants pitcher Teng Kai-wei impressed against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday despite an 8-1 loss in the opener of the team’s nine-game road trip. Teng, the only Taiwanese pitcher active in MLB, struck out five while allowing two hits and one walk over four innings at Chase Field to finish with a no decision, as the teams were tied 1-1 when he finished his outing. He surrendered the lone run of his outing in the bottom of the first, which began with a walk, a hit-by-pitch and two strikeouts. Diamondbacks leadoff hitter Geraldo Perdomo advanced to third on
RSS