A RECENT edition of this column commented on the festival of rugby league that is taking place in the sport this autumn, and looked ahead to the keenly anticipated return of the Ashes series between England and Australia, which begins with the first test at Wembley on October 25.

But it missed out what will be one of the best showcases of rugby league during this time — the 2025 Pacific Championships, involving Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea.

The tournament takes place across Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea, with the first games taking place in Port Moresby and Auckland this weekend.

The Pacific region is a hotbed for rugby. There are similarities with the way Brazil, Argentina, and other South American nations adopted association football. They added their own characteristics and flavour and ended up playing it better than anyone else, despite the relatively small populations in some of these nations compared to others who play the game.

We are fresh from an association football international break during which many have asked how small nations such as Cape Verde or the Faroe Islands can punch above their weight in soccer, while other countries with huge populations fail to make an impact in such a global game.

Part of the answer to this question, and to the question of how Pacific island nations do something similar in rugby, is the simple answer. It’s that young people in these countries pick up this sport from an early age due to the existing popularity and accessibility of the game there, and the encouragement to participate.

From a rugby perspective, the availability of areas in which to play and the relatively small amount of equipment required, which is usually just a ball, especially if you’re playing on a beach, means it is picked up automatically.

It is adopted almost out of habit as a game young people play, as is the case with association football in places like the UK.

As far as rugby league goes, Papua New Guinea is the only nation in the world that counts this particular form of football as its national sport.

The game was introduced there by allied soldiers and workers coming over from Australia during and after the two World Wars. After that, it grew in popularity among the local population and eventually became the country’s favourite sport.

Papua New Guinea participate in the three-team Pacific Bowl section of the Pacific Championships, which is effectively the tournament’s second tier.

Their men’s team had a chance of being promoted to the top-tier Pacific Cup in 2024, but lost the promotion/relegation playoff to New Zealand. The Kiwis themselves had just lost a 24–25 thriller against Tonga in their final game, but saw off PNG in the playoff by 54 points to 12.

The format for both the Pacific Bowl and the Pacific Cup involves the three teams playing each other in group matches. The top team in the Pacific Bowl is then declared the winner of their tournament, while the top two teams in the Pacific Cup face off in a final match to decide the winner.
 

Australia’s men’s team will miss this version of the Pacific Championships because they are hosting the 2026 World Cup and due to their Ashes tour of England. They have been replaced in the Pacific Cup by Samoa.

New Zealand will be the favourites in Australia’s absence, but face tough tests against the Samoans, and Tonga once again, for the Pacific Cup crown.

The Tonga men’s team boasts one of the standout young players in the game in 21-year-old, 2025 NRL Rookie of the Year, Robert Toia, who plays his club football for the Sydney Roosters and also represented Queensland in their triumphant 2025 State of Origin series.

He has been one of the stars of a league that sets the standard for club rugby around the world, and whose players are often eligible to represent multiple nations at international level.

Recently, there has been an increase in players choosing to represent their family ties to a Pacific island nation, and Toia has become the latest to do so. He chose to represent Tonga despite being eligible (and good enough) to play for Australia or New Zealand.

Tonga are coached by former St Helens coach Kristian Woolf, and it is he who gave Toia his first international call-up for this tournament.

“I was pretty overwhelmed when Woolfy gave me the green light,” Toia told the official NRL website.

“Words couldn’t describe how proud my parents were. Both of them were crying, and my grandparents were crying. It just shows how much it means to them and obviously to myself.

“Growing up, watching the boys putting on the red jersey, I’ve always wanted to put that jersey on.

“Everyone knows the Red Sea [Tonga fans]. There’s no other fanbase like that. The Red Sea is different, and I’m just keen to experience that and play for them and represent my people.”

Though they will not be present in the men’s competition, Australia will compete in the women’s tournament against New Zealand and Samoa for the Pacific Cup, while the Cook Islands, Tonga, and Papua New Guinea compete for the women’s Pacific Bowl.

Fiji’s women’s team, meanwhile, are competing in the upcoming World Series in Canada against Ireland, Nigeria, and Canada at the end of this month. The winner of that will qualify for the 2026 Women’s Rugby League World Cup.

The first games of the Pacific Championships, as Papua New Guinea take on the Cook Islands in the women’s tournament, and Fiji and the Cook Islands face off in the men’s, kick off in the early hours of Saturday morning UK time.

The first standout game of the men’s Pacific Cup between New Zealand versus Samoa kicks off in Auckland at 6am UK time on Sunday morning.