2008 Pacific Rugby Cup

The IRB Pacific Rugby Cup 2008 was the third edition of the Pacific Rugby Cup competition. First held in 2006, the 2008 edition, like its predecessors, featured 6 representative rugby union football teams; 2 from each of the three Pacific rugby unions - Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.

2008 Pacific Rugby Cup
CountriesFiji Fiji (2 teams)
Samoa Samoa (2 teams)
Tonga Tonga (2 teams)
ChampionsTonga Tautahi Gold
Matches played16
← 2007
2009 →

Tautahi Gold beat Upolu Samoa 11 points to 3 in the grand final match to win the Pacific Rugby Cup for 2008, becoming the first Tongan team, and the first team outside of Samoa, to win the trophy.

Teams

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The 6 participating teams were:

Format and schedule

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The teams played a single round robin (home or away) series. The two top teams in the final standings met in the grand final match, with the first ranking team awarded home advantage.

The 2008 tournament followed the completion of Fiji's Colonial Cup, Samoa's National Provincial Championship and Tonga's Provincial Championship and provided the coaches of the three national teams with a competitive player development pathway just ahead of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2008.

Upolu Samoa began its title defence away to 2007 beaten finalists Tau'uta Reds in Nuku'alofa on April 19, while Fiji Warriors faced Tautahi Gold in Lautoka and 2006 champions Savaii Samoa played Fiji Barbarians in Apia. Four further rounds followed on consecutive weekends before the top two ranked teams contested the Grand Final on May 24.

Table

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Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Point Difference Bonus Points Points
Upolu Samoa 5 4 0 1 90 49 +41 1 17
Tautahi Gold 5 3 0 2 97 75 +22 1 13
Savaii Samoa 5 3 0 2 81 81 0 1 13
Fiji Barbarians 5 2 0 3 72 90 -18 2 10
Tau'uta Reds 5 2 0 3 84 95 -11 1 9
Fiji Warriors 5 1 0 4 70 104 -34 3 7
Source: oceaniarugby.com[1]

Match results

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Round One

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2008-04-18 Fiji Warriors 21-19 Tautahi Gold Churchill Park, Lautoka  


Savai'i Samoa 17-13 Fiji Barbarians Apia Park, Apia  


2008-04-19 Tau'uta Reds 12-20 Upolu Samoa Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa  

Round Two

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2008-04-25 Fiji Barbarians 5-22 Upolu Samoa National Stadium, Suva  


2008-04-26 Savai'i Samoa 20-18 Fiji Warriors Prince Edwards Park, Savaii  


Tau'uta Reds 11-21 Tautahi Gold Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa  

Round Three

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2008-05-02 Upolu Samoa 13-8 Fiji Warriors Apia Park, Apia  


Tautahi Gold 27-17 Savai'i Samoa Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa  


2008-05-03 Fiji Barbarians 25-24 Tau'uta Reds Lawaqa Park, Sigatoka  

Round Four

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2008-05-09 Fiji Warriors 16-23 Tau'uta Reds Prince Charles Park, Nadi  


Tautahi Gold 20-0 Fiji Barbarians Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa  


2008-05-10 Upolu Samoa 9-14 Savai'i Samoa Apia Park, Apia  

Round Five

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2008-05-16 Tau'uta Reds 14-13 Savai'i Samoa Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa  


2008-05-17 Fiji Warriors 7-29 Fiji Barbarians Subrail Park, Labasa  


Upolu Samoa 26-10 Tautahi Gold Apia Park, Apia  

Final

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2008-05-24 Upolu Samoa 3-11 Tautahi Gold Apia Park, Apia  

References

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  1. ^ "2008 Pacific Rugby Cup Fixtures and Results". Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions. 2008. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014.
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