Americas Snubbed in Pacific Nations Cup Refereeing

No officials from North or South America were appointed for the tournament despite being hosted in the region

World Rugby's policy of promoting referees from a limited number of countries has resulted in the exclusion of Americas officials from the Pacific Cup /

By Priscilla Jepchumba

The 2024 Pacific Nations Cup referee appointments do not include any officials from the Americas. The tournament will take place in North America, Oceania, and Japan, featuring six teams: Canada, the USA, Japan, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. Referees from Australia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, and Wales have been selected by World Rugby.

In the 2024 Pacific Nations Cup, there will be a total of eleven matches. Australian referees will officiate three matches, as will New Zealand referees. The remaining five matches will be overseen by officials from Ireland, Italy, Japan, Scotland, and Wales.

Two matches will be held in North America, with Ireland’s Eoghan Cross refereeing Canada vs. Japan in Vancouver, and Italy’s Gianluca Gnecchi officiating USA vs. Canada in Los Angeles. The final match and the 5th Place Final in Japan will be officiated by Australia’s Nic Berry.

While making the referee appointments, the focus was on the Rugby World Cup 2027, as well as the 2024 Rugby Championship, to prepare referees for the next Rugby World Cup.

World Rugby's policy of promoting referees from a limited number of countries has resulted in no Americas officials being included in the 2024 Pacific Nations Cup and Rugby Championship tournaments.

At Rugby World Cup 2023, no Americas official was appointed, continuing the trend from previous tournaments. New Zealander Paul Williams has been chosen to referee the second Semi-Final of the Pacific Nations Cup, having previously officiated Argentina vs. Chile at Rugby World Cup 2023 entirely in English. Additionally, a match between Argentina and Uruguay this past July was also not refereed in Spanish.

In addition to the Rugby World Cup 2027, previous tournaments such as 2019, 2015, 2011, and 2007 also saw no Americas officials appointed to referee matches.

This year's Pacific Nations Cup will feature a new round-robin two-pool format with a Grand Final determining the overall champions.

In Pool A, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga will compete, while Pool B will consist of Canada, Japan, and USA. Each team will have one home and one away match during the pool stage.

To determine the champion, a Finals Series has been introduced this year where the top two teams from each pool will move on to the semi-finals. The winners of these matches will compete in a Grand Final, while the losing teams will play for third place.

While speaking about the Pacific Nations Cup fixtures, World Rugby’s Player Development Manager Simon Raiwalui was confident that the fixtures would improve team preparations in the long term

"The six teams taking part in the competition will benefit from long-term certainty around fixtures,” said Raiwalui, “…allowing them to optimize their preparations and engage with fans and commercial partners," he added.

On 14 September, the bottom two teams from each pool will play in a fifth-place play-off coinciding with the first semi-final. The second semi-final will take place a day later at the same venue, the Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium.