Australia reverse their 2023 Pacific Championship defeat by winning the 2024 decider at CommBank Stadium in Sydney.
Related: 2024 Pacific Championships: Results and Stats
PACIFIC CUP (MEN)
Australia avenged last year’s Pacific Cup loss by going through undefeated in the 2024 edition.
Australia led the Pacific Cup Final 20-4 early in the second half (a double to Tom Trbojevic) and survived a late Tonga fightback (tries to Haumole Olakau’atu and Eliesa Katoa) to win 20-14.
Tonga qualified for the Cup Final with a 25-24 win over New Zealand. In one of the best International games in recent memory, Tonga raced to a 24-0 lead after 33 minutes (tries to Sione Katoa, Addin Fonua-Blake, Siliva Havili, and Soni Luke). New Zealand drew level at 24-24 (tries to Isaiah Papali’i, Keano Kini, Phoenix Crossland, and Joseph Tapine) before Isaiya Katoa sealed the win with a one-point field goal.
New Zealand stayed in the Pacific Cup with a 54-12 win over PNG in the promotion game (four tries to Casey McLean – on International debut – and three to Jamayne Isaako). It was a nice farewell for Shaun Johnson, with five try assists and a goal.
Embed from Getty ImagesPACIFIC CUP (WOMEN)
Australia dominated the women’s Pacific Cup.
Not only did they beat New Zealand (twice) and PNG comfortably, they went 208 minutes without conceding a point (Leianne Tufuga scoring for the Kiwi Ferns in the 68th minute of the Pacific Cup Final).
Wingers Julia Robinson and Jakiya Whitfeld had a day out in the 84-0 win over PNG: Robinson (six) and Whitfeld (five) scored 11 of Australia’s 17 tries.
The Jillaroos won the Final 24-4: they led 12-0 at half-time before Tamika Upton and Tarryn Aiken scored early in the second half put the game away.
After losing to the Jillaroos 14-0, the Kiwi Ferns qualified for the Final with a 36-0 win over PNG (a hat-trick to Mackenzie Wiki and two tries to Tufuga).
The winless PNG were demoted to the 2025 Pacific Bowl.
Embed from Getty ImagesPACIFIC BOWL (MEN)
PNG won the Pacific Bowl, beating Fiji and the Cook Islands.
They beat Fiji 22-10 and the Cook Islands 42-20 (two tries each to Elijah Roltinga and Nene Macdonald), while Fiji beat the Cook Islands 56-6.
There was no Bowl Final, so PNG’s two wins was enough to finish first.
Embed from Getty ImagesPACIFIC BOWL (WOMEN)
Fetu Samoa had a triple success in the 2024 Pacific Championships: they won the Pacific Bowl, was promoted to the 2025 Pacific Championship, and qualified for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.
The four-team women’s Pacific Cup was a straight knockout format, with Samoa beating Tonga 30-16, Fiji 16-12 (Bowl Final), and PNG 34-12 (promotion game). Fiji beat the Cook Islands 18-6.
Fiji led 12-4 in the Bowl Final (tries to Sienna Laing and Abigayle Sekitoga), with two second half tries to Annetta-Claudia Nu’uausala giving Samoa the win.
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