2024 Pacific Championships: How to watch, Who’s involved, What’s at stake
Clockwise from top left: Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji will all compete in the Pacific Championships this autumn
The Pacific Championships return for a second edition in the Southern Hemisphere this autumn, and we’ve got you covered with everything you need to know about the tournament covered below…
What are the Pacific Championships?
Essentially, a mini-tournament involving various nations from the Southern Hemisphere which are held at the end of each season.
As was the case last year, the 2024 instalment will see two separate competitions running alongside one another – the Pacific Cup and Pacific Bowl.
The cup is the top tier of the tournament, with the bowl being the bottom tier.
What’s at stake?
This is where the interesting bit comes in. Last year, teams were essentially playing for pride. New Zealand won the Pacific Cup and Papua New Guinea won the Pacific Bowl.
Now however, there is promotion and relegation at stake as well as the chance of getting your hands on some silverware.
Whoever finishes bottom of the Pacific Cup group this year will have to face the team that tops the Pacific Bowl group.
That one-off encounter will decide who plays in which tier come 2025, and is dubbed a promotion/relegation play-off.
We saw a similar thing happen with Swinton Lions and Hunslet to decide who took the last spot in the RFL Championship in 2025.
Who is involved?
Pacific Cup
Australia, New Zealand and Tonga
Pacific Bowl
The Cook Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea
Fixture Schedule
All fixtures are listed with the stated kick-off time relating to the British Time Zone (BST) / Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
We will enter GMT at 2am on Sunday, October 27 – the last Sunday in October.
Pacific Cup
Friday, October 18: Australia v Tonga (10.10am) – Lang Park, Brisbane
Sunday, October 27: New Zealand v Australia (5.05am) – Rugby League Park, Christchurch
Saturday, November 2: New Zealand v Tonga (7.05am) – Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland
Sunday, November 10: 1st-placed team v 2nd-placed team in Final (7.20am) – Western Sydney Stadium, Sydney
Pacific Bowl
Saturday, October 19: Fiji v Papua New Guinea (9.10am) – National Stadium, Suva
Saturday, October 26: Fiji v Cook Islands (9.10am) – National Stadium, Suva
Sunday, November 3: Papua New Guinea v Cook Islands (5am) – PNG Football Stadium, Port Moresby
Promotion/Relegation play-off
Sunday, November 10: 3rd-placed Pacific Cup team v 1st-placed Pacific Bowl team (4.05am) – Western Sydney Stadium, Sydney
Squads
Pacific Cup
Pacific Bowl
How to Watch
Here in the UK, every one of those games will be shown live on Sky Sports.
Those that have had their exact channels confirmed to date are all on Sky Sports Mix.
Confirmation is awaited, but Sky Sports Mix looks likely to be the host channel for all of the games.
Alternatively, they are available via ‘Watch NRL’, the NRL’s official service.
Women’s tournament
The Women’s Pacific Championships are also split across two groups – the Cup and Bowl.
Each of the three nations competing in the Cup this autumn – Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea – have all already qualified for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.
The 2024 Pacific Bowl however will act as the Asia-Pacific qualification tournament for the World Cup, and will be done in a straight knockout style beginning at the semi-final stage.
The winners will qualify directly for the World Cup, while the runners up will enter into the 2025 World Series, which they will then have to win to claim a spot at the World Cup.
Where the Pacific Championships are concerned, just as in the men’s tournament, this autumn’s winners of the Pacific Bowl tournament will compete against the 3rd-placed team in the Pacific Cup group.
So, as well as automatic qualification for the World Cup, the Bowl winners will get a crack at earning promotion.
The women’s schedule is listed below, with the fixtures for the Bowl arranged back in August based upon the International Rugby League (IRL) rankings.
All fixtures are listed with the stated kick-off time relating to the British Time Zone (BST) / Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
We will enter GMT at 2am on Sunday, October 27 – the last Sunday in October.
Pacific Cup
Friday, October 18: Australia v Papua New Guinea (8.05am)
Sunday, October 27: New Zealand v Australia (2.35am)
Sunday, November 3: Papua New Guinea v New Zealand (2.55am)
Sunday, November 10: 1st-placed team v 2nd-placed team in Final (2.35am)
Pacific Bowl
Semi-Finals
Saturday, October 19: Tonga v Samoa (7am)
Saturday, October 26: Fiji v Cook Islands (7am)
Final – For automatic qualification to World Cup
Saturday, November 2: Winner of Semi-Final 1 v Winner of Semi-Final 2 (4.35am)
Promotion/Relegation play-off
Sunday, November 10: 3rd-placed Pacific Cup team v Pacific Bowl winners (12.35am)
Wheelchair
Not officially part of the tournament, but arranged to coincide with it, Australia and New Zealand’s wheelchair sides will compete in a two-match Test Series against one another.
Both matches between the pair will take place in Auckland, with one coming on November 1 and the other on November 4.
