The Americas Pacific Challenge (APC) is a rugby union tournament funded by World Rugby [1] that serves as a development competition for Americas and Pacific island nations. It provides a way to prepare players for participation with their senior national men's teams during international tests [2] and in the Rugby World Cup qualification cycle.[3]
| Most recent season or competition: 2021 World Rugby Americas Pacific Challenge | |
 | |
| Sport | Rugby Union |
|---|---|
| First season | 2016 |
| Countries | |
| Most recent champion(s) |  Argentina XV (2021) |
| Most titles | Argentina XV (3) |
The competition has been hosted by the Uruguayan Rugby Union since 2016, with all games played in Montevideo.[1] Prior to its creation, two teams from the Americas had played in the Pacific Challenge, hosted by Fiji in 2015.[4] This was reversed in 2016 with two Pacific Island teams joining the inaugural APC [5] which effectively replaced the previous format of the Americas Rugby Championship.[6]
History
editThe APC was first contested in October 2016 by the national 'A' teams of Argentina, Canada, Fiji, Samoa, Uruguay and United States.[7] Tonga took the place of the Fijian team for the 2017 competition,[8] and retained that place in 2018.[9]
The competition had a two-year hiatus which encompassed the 2019 Rugby World Cup and a 2020 season disrupted by impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Teams from Brazil, Chile and Paraguay took part for the first time in the 2021 Challenge, but the Pacific Islands did not participate due to difficulties with COVID-19 travel logistics.[10]
Format
editThe Americas Pacific Challenge uses a split pool format wherein the six competing teams are divided into two pools of three.[11] Each team plays one match against each of the teams in the opposite pool.[11] The tournament's winner is decided based upon the number of points accumulated from each match.[11]
Participating teams
editThe final placings of all teams for each year are recorded in the table below as numbers (where 1 denotes first place, 2 denotes second, etc). The host nation's placing is shown in bold. A dash (–) is recorded in the year column if a team did not compete at a tournament.
Year Nation
|
2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2021 | Years played | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | |||||||
 Canada A
|
6 | 6 | 5 | – | 3 | ||
 USA Selects
|
5 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | ||
| South America | |||||||
| Argentina XV
|
1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||
 Brazil A
|
– | – | – | 3 | 1 | ||
 Chile A
|
– | – | – | 2 | 1 | ||
 Paraguay A
|
– | – | – | 6 | 1 | ||
 Uruguay A
|
4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Pacific teams | |||||||
 Fiji Warriors
|
2 | – | – | – | 1 | ||
 Samoa A
|
3 | 4 | 1 | – | 3 | ||
 Tonga A
|
– | 3 | 4 | – | 2 | ||
| Number of teams All time total: 10 |
6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 Editions | ||
Winners
edit| Year | # of Teams |
Winner | Runner-up | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 6 | Argentina XV
|
Fiji Warriors
|
Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo |
| 2017 | 6 | Argentina XV
|
USA Selects
|
Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo |
| 2018 | 6 | Samoa A
|
Argentina XV
|
Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo |
| 2021 | 6 | Argentina XV
|
Chile A
|
Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Americas Pacific Challenge set for October kick-off in Uruguay". World Rugby. July 9, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ "Uruguay 'A' beats Canada 'A' at World Rugby Americas Pacific Challenge". TSN. Montevideo, Uruguay. The Canadian Press. October 6, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ Rowe, James (September 20, 2018). "USA Selects Americas Pacific Challenge Roster Announced". The Runner Sports. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ "Rugby World Cup places on offer in Pacific Challenge". Radio New Zealand. March 10, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
- ^ "Americas Pacific Challenge – Round 3 Preview". Americas Rugby News. October 15, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
- ^ "World Rugby confirms Americas Pacific Challenge". Americas Rugby News. September 7, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ "2016 Americas Pacific Challenge". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ "2017 Americas Pacific Challenge". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ "2018 Americas Pacific Challenge". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ "Americas Pacific Challenge – Round 1 Preview". Americas Rugby News. October 22, 2021. Archived from the original on October 22, 2021.
- ^ a b c "World Rugby Americas Pacific Challenge 2018 Match Schedule Announced". USA Rugby. August 22, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.