View source for 2008 Pacific Rugby Cup

{{Infobox rugby union season
| image = <!-- photo only do not use logo -->
| imagesize = 200px 
| countries = {{flagicon|Fiji}} [[Fiji]] (2 teams)<br/>{{flagicon|SAM}} [[Samoa]] (2 teams)<br/>{{flagicon|TON}} [[Tonga]] (2 teams)
| date = 
| champions = {{flagicon|TON}} [[Tautahi Gold]]
| runnersup =  
| relegated = 
| matches = 16
| attendance =
| top point scorer = 
| top try scorer = 
| prevseason = [[2007 Pacific Rugby Cup|2007]]
| nextseason = [[2009 Pacific Rugby Cup|2009]]
}}
<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: [[Image:Pacificrugby.jpg|right]] -->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 union]]s - [[Rugby union in Fiji|Fiji]], [[Rugby union in Samoa|Samoa]] and [[Rugby union in Tonga|Tonga]].

[[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 [[Rugby union in Tonga|Tongan]] team, and the first team outside of [[Rugby union in Samoa|Samoa]], to win the trophy.

{{TOC limit|2}}

==Teams==
The 6 participating teams were:
*[[Upolu Samoa]] and [[Savaii Samoa]] from [[Samoa]]
*[[Fiji Warriors]] and [[Fiji Barbarians]] from [[Fiji]]
*[[Tau'uta Reds]] and [[Tautahi Gold]] from [[Tonga]]

==Format and schedule==
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 (rugby union)|Colonial Cup]], Samoa's [[Samoa National Provincial Championship|National Provincial Championship]] and Tonga's [[Datec Cup Provincial Championship|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==
:{| class="wikitable"
|-
!width=165|Team
!width=40|Played
!width=40|Won
!width=40|Drawn
!width=40|Lost
!width=40|For
!width=40|Against
!width=40|Point Difference
!width=40|Bonus Points
!width=40|Points
|- bgcolor=#ccffcc align=center
|align=left| '''[[Upolu Samoa]]'''
|5||4||0||1||90||49||+41||1||'''17'''
|- bgcolor=#ccffcc align=center
|align=left| '''[[Tautahi Gold]]'''
|5||3||0||2||97||75||+22||1||'''13'''
|- align=center
|align=left| '''[[Savaii Samoa]]'''
|5||3||0||2||81||81||0||1||'''13'''
|- align=center
|align=left| '''[[Fiji Barbarians]]'''
|5||2||0||3||72||90||-18||2||'''10'''
|- align=center
|align=left| '''[[Tau'uta Reds]]''' 
|5||2||0||3||84||95||-11||1||'''9'''
|- align=center
|align=left| '''[[Fiji Warriors]]''' 
|5||1||0||4||70||104||-34||3||'''7'''

|- bgcolor="#ffffff" align=center
|colspan="15"|<small>Source: [https://web.archive.org/web/20140302025518/http://oceaniarugby.com/fixtures__results/pacific_rugby_cup/2008_prc_fixtures_and_results_2.html '''oceaniarugby.com''']</small><ref name = foru-2008/><br/>
|}
:{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align:center; line-height:100%; font-size:100%; width:60%;"
|-
! colspan="4" style="border:0px" |{{pad|2.2em}}Competition rules
|-
| colspan="4" |'''Points breakdown:'''<br/>4 points for a win<br/>2 points for a draw<br/>1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less<br/>1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match<br/>
'''Classification:'''<br/>Teams standings are calculated as follows:<br/>Most log points accumulated from all matches<br/>Most log points accumulated in matches between tied teams<br/>Highest difference between points scored for and against accumulated from all matches<br/>Most points scored accumulated from all matches
|}

== Match results ==

===Round One===

{{rugbybox collapsible  |
date = 2008-04-18 |
home = [[Fiji Warriors]] |
score = 21-19 |
away = [[Tautahi Gold]] |
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[Churchill Park (Lautoka)|Churchill Park]], [[Lautoka]]}}

{{rugbybox collapsible  |
date = |
home = [[Savaii Samoa|Savai'i Samoa]] |
score = 17-13 |
away = [[Fiji Barbarians]] |
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[Apia Park]], [[Apia]]}}

{{rugbybox collapsible  |
date = 2008-04-19 |
home = [[Tau'uta Reds]] |
score = 12-20 |
away = [[Upolu Samoa]] |
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[Teufaiva Stadium]], [[Nukuʻalofa|Nuku{{Okina}}alofa]]}}

===Round Two===

{{rugbybox collapsible  |
date = 2008-04-25 |
home =  [[Fiji Barbarians]]|
score = 5-22 |
away = [[Upolu Samoa]]  |
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[National Stadium (Suva)|National Stadium]], [[Suva]]}}

{{rugbybox collapsible  |
date = 2008-04-26 |
home = [[Savaii Samoa|Savai'i Samoa]] |
score = 20-18 |
away =  [[Fiji Warriors]] |
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[Prince Edwards Park]], [[Savaii]]}}

{{rugbybox collapsible  |
date =  |
home = [[Tau'uta Reds]]  |
score = 11-21 |
away = [[Tautahi Gold]] |
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[Teufaiva Stadium]], [[Nukuʻalofa|Nuku{{Okina}}alofa]]}}

===Round Three===

{{rugbybox collapsible  |
date = 2008-05-02 |
home =  [[Upolu Samoa]]|
score = 13-8 |
away = [[Fiji Warriors]]|
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[Apia Park]], [[Apia]]}}

{{rugbybox collapsible  |

date = |
home = [[Tautahi Gold]] |
score = 27-17 |
away =  [[Savaii Samoa|Savai'i Samoa]] |
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[Teufaiva Stadium]], [[Nukuʻalofa|Nuku{{Okina}}alofa]]}}

{{rugbybox collapsible  |

date =  2008-05-03 |
home = [[Fiji Barbarians]]  |
score = 25-24 |
away = [[Tau'uta Reds]] |
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[Lawaqa Park]], [[Sigatoka]]}}

===Round Four===

{{rugbybox collapsible  |
date = 2008-05-09 |
home =  [[Fiji Warriors]]|
score = 16-23 |
away = [[Tau'uta Reds]]|
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[Prince Charles Park]], [[Nadi]]}}

{{rugbybox collapsible  |
date = |
home = [[Tautahi Gold]] |
score = 20-0 |
away =  [[Fiji Barbarians]] |
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[Teufaiva Stadium]], [[Nukuʻalofa|Nuku{{Okina}}alofa]]}}

{{rugbybox collapsible  |
date =  2008-05-10 |
home = [[Upolu Samoa]]  |
score = 9-14 |
away = [[Savaii Samoa|Savai'i Samoa]] |
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[Apia Park]], [[Apia]]}}

===Round Five===

{{rugbybox collapsible  |
date = 2008-05-16 |
home =  [[Tau'uta Reds]]|
score = 14-13 |
away = [[Savaii Samoa|Savai'i Samoa]]|
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[Teufaiva Stadium]], [[Nukuʻalofa|Nuku{{Okina}}alofa]]}}

{{rugbybox collapsible  |
date = 2008-05-17 |
home = [[Fiji Warriors]] |
score = 7-29 |
away =  [[Fiji Barbarians]] |
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[Subrail Park]], [[Labasa]]}}

{{rugbybox collapsible  |
date =  |
home = [[Upolu Samoa]]  |
score = 26-10 |
away = [[Tautahi Gold]] |
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[Apia Park]], [[Apia]]}}

==Final==

{{rugbybox collapsible  |
date = 2008-05-24 |
home =  [[Upolu Samoa]]|
score = 3-11 |
away = [[Tautahi Gold]] |
homescore = |
awayscore = |
stadium = [[Apia Park]], [[Apia]]}}

==References==
{{reflist<!--|colwidth=25em-->|refs=
<ref name = foru-2008>{{cite web 
 |date= 2008
 |title= 2008 Pacific Rugby Cup Fixtures and Results
 |publisher= Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions
 |url= http://oceaniarugby.com/fixtures__results/pacific_rugby_cup/2008_prc_fixtures_and_results_2.html
 |url-status= dead
 |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20140302025518/http://oceaniarugby.com/fixtures__results/pacific_rugby_cup/2008_prc_fixtures_and_results_2.html
 |archivedate= 2 March 2014 }}
</ref>
}}

==External links==
*[http://www.oceaniarugby.com FORU website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201100656/http://oceaniarugby.com/ |date=2011-02-01 }}

{{Pacific Rugby Cup|state=expanded}}
{{Rugby08|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:World Rugby Pacific Challenge]]
[[Category:2008 rugby union tournaments for clubs|Pacific Rugby Cup]]
[[Category:2008 in Fijian rugby union|Pacific Rugby Cup]]
[[Category:2008 in Samoan rugby union|Pacific Rugby Cup]]
[[Category:2008 in Tongan rugby union|Pacific Rugby Cup]]
[[Category:2008 in Oceanian rugby union|Pacific]]