PRC laying the foundations for success

The IRB Pacific Rugby Cup was introduced in 2006 with the aim of creating a more defined and competitive competition pathway for players in the Pacific Islands, bridging the gap between club rugby and the Test arena.

Now, in its third year, the tournament is flourishing and has already proven successful in preparing a whole host of locally-based players for international selection. Last year alone 48 players from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga graduated from the Pacific Rugby Cup to gain full test selection for their respective countries in the IRB Pacific Nations Cup, while many went on to star at last year’s Rugby World Cup in France.

Last weekend the 2008 tournament exploded into life, producing three exhilarating matches of exceptional quality. With a feast of rugby to come for PRC supporters over the next month, the tournament has captured the imagination of the rugby loving public in the Islands – a fact not lost on the IRB’s General Manager for the Pacific Islands, Will Glenwright.

“The beauty of this tournament is that we have a nice mix of local players with a local following playing on the international stage and the rugby fraternity responding to that as they want to see the next generation of stars.”

Attendances across the board have been strong and Glenwright believes that the tournament has been particularly good for Samoa, where Upolu Samoa and Savai’i Samoa have established quite a following.

“The Samoans in particular have been very dominant in this competition, winning both so far, and they are attracting big crowds when they play – that adds to the traditional rivalry between the three countries.”

The argument has been muted that there is an inevitability within the Islands about losing their top players to big clubs elsewhere, but Glenwright believes that in producing more international quality players, the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup is the perfect breeding ground for success and will have a long-term benefit to Rugby within the Islands.

“I don’t think that we are ever going change the trend of these players going elsewhere to play club rugby as it is as much an economic issue as it is a rugby issue, but these players have an opportunity through rugby and this tournament, to prove themselves.”

“A shining light is Akapusi Quera who is now playing for Gloucester in England and he was the leading try scorer in the 2006 Pacific Rugby Cup and form there gained selection for Fiji in the Pacific Nations Cup and from there picked up an overseas contract. That, I think, is the role of the Pacific Rugby Cup and if more players do that then the tournament has served its purpose as those people will play at a higher level and that can only benefit the national team.”