The 2017 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup was the twelfth edition of the

Pacific Nations Cup The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Canada, Japan and the United States. First held in 2006, the tournament is intended to strengthen the Tier 2 rugby teams by providing competitiv ...

annual international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

tournament. The 2017 title was contested solely by the Pacific nations of

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

and

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

. Teams competing in previous years,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

were not scheduled to participate in the tournament for 2017 or 2016 due to the 2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying format. The top two teams on aggregate across the 2016 and 2017 Pacific Nations Cups for Japan 2019, with the team finishing third scheduled to enter the

repechage Repechage ( , ; , ) is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well-known example is the wild card system. Types Different type ...

for qualification. Having not hosted a test match since playing Fiji in June 2009, Tonga was given the go-ahead to host a test match with World Rugby's approval of the revamped

Teufaiva Sport Stadium Teufaiva Sport Stadium which was previously known as ''Tenefaira Field Stadium'' is a multi-purpose stadium in Nukualofa, Tonga. It is used mostly for rugby union, football and rugby league and the Ikale Tahi team matches. The stadium holds 10,00 ...

. Fiji retained their title to win for the third consecutive year.

Table

Fixtures

The full match schedule was announced on 23 March 2017.

Round 1

Notes: * This was Tonga's first home game since they played Fiji in 2009. * This was Tonga's first win over Samoa since they won 29–19 in 2011. * Siegfried Fisiihoi, Atieli Pakalani (both Tonga), Auvasa Faleali'i, Jordan Lay, Henry Taefu and Masalosalo Tutaia (all Samoa) made their international debuts. *

David Lemi David Lemi (born 10 February 1982) is a professional rugby player who plays on the wing for Rouen. Weighing 75 kg and only 1.75m tall, he is one of the smaller professional rugby players. However, his electric pace and low centre of gravi ...

(Samoa) earned his 50th test cap.

Round 2

Notes: * Sione Tau (Tonga) made his international debut. * With this Result Fiji guaranteed qualification for the Rugby World Cup 2019 as Oceana 1.

Round 3

Notes: * James Lay (Samoa) and

Frank Lomani Frank Lomani (born 18 April 1996) is a Fijian rugby union player who plays for the Fijian Drua in the National Rugby Championship competition as well as the Fijian Latui in the Global Rapid Rugby competition. He also trained with the Super ...

(Fiji) made their international debuts. * This was Fiji's first win in Samoa since their 17–16 win in 2002.

Squads

Note: Number of caps and players' ages are indicated as of 1 July 2017 – the tournament's opening day, pre first tournament match.

Fiji

On 9 May, John McKee named an extended squad ahead of Fiji's 2017 June tests against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and their Rugby Pacific Nations Cup / 2019 RWC Oceania qualification campaign in July.

Samoa

On 29 May, Alama Ieremia named a 35-man squad ahead of Samoa's 2017 June tests against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and their Pacific Nations Cup / 2019 RWC Oceania qualification campaign in July.

Tonga

On 9 June, Tonga named a 35-man extended squad for their 2017 June test against

and their Pacific Nations Cup / 2019 RWC Oceania qualification campaign in July.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacific Nations Cup 2017

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2017 rugby union tournaments for national teams 2017 in Oceanian rugby union 2017 in Samoan rugby union 2017 in Tongan rugby union 2017 in Fijian rugby union