“The 2007 IRB Pacific Nations Cup, won by the Junior All Blacks, was the most competitive to date, generating high-quality Rugby and providing an expanded Test schedule for the Pacific Island Unions. It also captured the imagination of the Rugby community, with well-attended matches and strong broadcast coverage,” said IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset.

“The IRB Pacific Nations Cup has grown in two years to become a key event on the global Rugby calendar and plays a significant development role for each of the participating Unions, as highlighted by the number of players who graduated through the Tournament to represent their country at the Rugby World Cup.

“Rugby World Cup 2007 was the most competitive RWC to date and the performances of Fiji, Japan, Samoa and Tonga significantly revealed that our investment in new Tournament structures, high performance and Union infrastructure programmes are already reaping rewards,“ said Lapasset.

The importance of the Tournament has been highlighted by Fiji head coach Ilie Tabua, who last year guided his team to the quarter-finals of a Rugby World Cup for the first time since the inaugural event in 1987.

“The Pacific Nations Cup provides a valuable platform for us to test our local players. As two-thirds of Fiji’s Rugby World Cup 2007 squad were based overseas, we began the 2007 Pacific Nations Cup with heavy reliance on the locally-based amateurs. This allowed us to see which were capable of stepping up a notch to reach Test Rugby, and some went on to excel themselves at the Rugby World Cup,” Tabua said.

“We need to set challenges for these young players and prime them for national duty. Come Rugby World Cup 2011, I expect a large percentage of the squad will have gone through the Pacific Nations Cup, which has given us an important schedule of regular Test matches,” added Tabua.

The 2008 Tournament will be the first to feature the famous New Zealand Maori, who replace two-time champions the Junior All Blacks as New Zealand’s representatives in the IRB Pacific Nations Cup. The move comes as a result of a thorough strategic review by the NZRU.

“The New Zealand Maori team has been tremendously successful in recent years, winning the Barclays Churchill Cup twice in the past three years and has an excellent reputation of developing young talent for the Test arena. The inclusion of New Zealand Maori will enhance the IRB Pacific Nations Cup’s highly competitive format as well as the unique cultural element of the tournament. I am sure that the 2008 Tournament will be the most competitive to date,” said Lapasset.

The Tournament kicks off with three mouth-watering fixtures as Fiji host Samoa in Lautoka and New Zealand Maori make their IRB Pacific Nations Cup debut against Tonga in Albany on Saturday, June 7. The following day 2007 runners-up Australia A are hosted by Japan in Fukuoka.

Other highlights will include the Rugby World Cup replays between Tonga and Samoa and Japan against Fiji. Samoa will be out to exact revenge after the Tongans defeated their close rivals for the first time in seven years during a memorable match in Montpellier. Likewise, the Japanese will be out to reverse the result of their thrilling encounter in Toulouse where they were defeated 35-31 by eventual quarter-finalists Fiji.

Round 1
Saturday June 7 Fiji v Samoa Churchill Park, Lautoka 1405
NZ Maori v Tonga North Harbour Stadium, Albany 1635
Sunday June 8 Japan v Australia A Hakata No Mori, Fukuoka 1405

Round 2
Saturday June 14:
Fiji v NZ Maori Post Fiji Stadium, Suva 1505
Samoa v Australia A Apia Park, Apia 1505

Sunday June 15:
Japan v Tonga Sendai Yurtec Stadium, Sendai 1405

Round 3
Saturday June 21:
NZ Maori v Samoa Waikato Stadium, Hamilton 1635

Sunday June 22:
Japan v Fiji National Olympic Stadium, Tokyo 1405
Australia A v Tonga North Sydney Oval, Sydney 1405

Round 4
Saturday June 28:
Tonga v Samoa Teufaiva Stadium, Nuku'alofa 1335
NZ Maori v Japan McLean Park, Napier 1435

Sunday June 29:
Australia A v Fiji Ballymore, Brisbane 1405

Round 5
Saturday July 5:
Tonga v Fiji Teufaiva Stadium, Nuku'alofa 1505
Samoa v Japan Apia Park, Apia 1505

Sunday July 6:
Australia A v NZ Maori Sydney Football Stadium TBC