Pacific Four Series
Current season or competition: 2024 Pacific Four Series | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 2021 |
| Number of teams | 4 |
| Countries |  Australia Canada New Zealand United States |
| Holders | Canada (2nd in 2024) |
| Most titles | Canada & New Zealand (2 titles each) |
The Pacific Four Series is an international rugby union competition that is sanctioned by World Rugby. It is contested between four women's national teams — Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.[1] It began in 2021 and was initially contested between Canada and the United States. They were later joined by Australia and New Zealand in 2022.
History
[edit]The Pacific Four Series was announced as a cross-regional tournament that will serve as a qualifier for Oceania Rugby and Rugby Americas North (RAN) to the WXV competition that will officially launch in 2023. Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States were announced as the competing teams for the tournament.[2][3]
Australia and New Zealand were unable to join the inaugural competition in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, World Rugby decided to proceed with the soft launch with only Canada and the United States. Canada won the initial tournament after two rounds of play.[4][5]
New Zealand won the 2022 Pacific Four Series after defeating the United States 50–6 in the final match.[6][7] New Zealand retained the series title in 2023.[8][9] In 2024, Canada won their first-ever test against the Black Ferns and claimed their second title.[10][11]
Results
[edit]| Year | Host(s) | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | United States
|
Canada
|
United States
|
| 2022 | New Zealand
|
New Zealand
|
Canada
|
| 2023 | Various | New Zealand
|
Canada
|
| 2024 | Various | Canada
|
New Zealand
|
Team records
[edit]| Team | Winner | Runner-up | 3rd | 4th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia
|
1 (2023) | 2 (2022, 2024) | ||
| Canada
|
2 (2021, 2024) | 2 (2022, 2023) | ||
| New Zealand
|
2 (2022, 2023) | 1 (2024) | ||
| United States
|
1 (2021) | 2 (2022, 2024) | 1 (2023) |
See also
[edit]- Women's international rugby - includes all women's international match results
References
[edit]- ^ "Pacific Four Series". World Rugby. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ "What is the Pacific Four Series?". W RUGBY. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ "World Rugby confirms Pacific Four Series schedule, the new cross-regional women's 15s tournament". World Rugby. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
- ^ "Canada captures Pacific Four Series title with 26-13 win over USA Rugby". Rugby Canada. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
- ^ "Canada seal inaugural World Rugby Pacific Four Series title". www.women.rugby. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
- ^ "Black Ferns win Pacific Four". Otago Daily Times Online News. 18 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ "New Zealand win the Pacific Four Series 2022". www.world.rugby. 18 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ "Undefeated Black Ferns crowned World Rugby Pacific Four Series 2023 champions". www.world.rugby. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "Pacific Four Series: New Zealand claim title with 39-17 win against USA". BBC Sport. 15 July 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "History-makers Canada claim Pacific Four Series with first-ever win over Black Ferns". www.world.rugby. 19 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ "Black Ferns fail to defend their Pacific Four title after three-point loss to Canada". RNZ. 19 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.