The 2007 IRB Pacific Nations Cup was a rugby union competition held between six Pacific Rim sides; Australia A, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and the Junior All Blacks (New Zealand's second XV). This was the first year that Australia A had competed – Australia had declined the invitation to compete in the inaugural competition in 2006 because they wanted to focus on their domestic competition, but on 18 October 2006 it was announced that they would send their second XV. For this reason, the inaugural tournament was renamed the Pacific Nations Cup instead of the IRB Pacific Five Nations as it had been called in 2006.
The tournament was a round-robin of 15 games where each team played one match against each of the others. There are four points for a win, two points for a draw and none for a defeat. There are also bonus points offered with one bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match and one bonus point for losing by 7 points or less.
New Zealand's Junior All Blacks won the Cup for the second time in Round 4, gaining an unbeatable lead after beating Australia A 50–0 in Dunedin.Junior All Blacks Clinch IRB Pacific Nations Cup , Pacific Magazine, 18 June 2007.
Table 2007 IRB Pacific Nations CupTeamPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints DifferenceTries ForTries AgainstTry BonusLosing BonusPoints1 5 5 0 0 228 34 +194 34 4 5 0 252 5 3 1 1 172 104 +68 22 14 2 0 163 5 3 0 2 96 67 +29 12 8 1 0 134 5 1 1 3 70 115 -45 9 15 1 2 95 5 1 0 4 69 184 -115 10 25 0 1 56 5 1 0 4 51 182 -131 5 26 0 0 4 Points breakdown:*4 points for a win*2 points for a draw*1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less*1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match
Results
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Top scorers
Top points scorers RankPlayerTeamPoints 1 Clinton Schifcofske 64 2 Stephen Donald 51 3 Stephen Brett 32 4 Eiji Ando 21 5 Ryan Cross 20 Lachlan Turner 7 Loki Crichton 19 8 Vunga Lilo 18 Taniela Maravunwasawasa 10 Rico Gear 15 Scott Hamilton Josh Holmes David Lemi Tane Tuʻipulotu Source: irb.com
Top try scorers RankPlayerTeamTries 1 Ryan Cross 4 Lachlan Turner 3 Stephen Donald 3 Rico Gear Scott Hamilton Josh Holmes David Lemi Vunga Lilo Tane Tuʻipulotu 10 14 players 2 24 34 players + penalty try 1 Source: irb.com
See also
2007 IRB Nations Cup Pacific Tri-Nations
References and notes