2026 Pacific Nations Cup

                                  

 2026 Pacific Nations Cup

World Rugby Gift to USA

The Pacific Nations Cup has always been played between the Pacific Nations of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. These 3 have played in all 17 previous tournaments. Japan has played the 4th most with 13 of the 17 tournaments.  Samoa and Tonga are more Pacific Nations than the USA and Canada. USA and Canada have only played in 6 of the previous 17 tournaments. So why are the USA and Canada playing and Samoa and Tonga are not. It seems very odd. 

Well World Rugby made this decision to assist USA, and a little Canada while they are at it. The reason is the USA has to play competitive meaningful games leading up to the 2027 Australia Rugby World Cup. World Rugby wants the USA Rugby to perform well in the World Cup since USA is hosting the next one 2031. The reason for World Rugby's positive "attitude" toward the USA is because of the USA market potential to tap. The USA has the largest economy and a massive fan base that has not come close to its potential. To gains fans, the team and nations must win games to gain interest. Who wants to watch your team get beat all the time,,,=you would lose fans. 

Tonga & Samoa Out:

World Rugby told Tonga and Samoa they are out. They could do this since those two nations were invited to the Nations Cup that has all the Tier 2 nations. The Nations Cup (6 matches) is a bit more interesting since it occurs simultaneously with the World Rugby Championship (Tier 1) 12 nations tournament. World Rugby indicated they would support both Tonga and Samoa in the future. 

“ World Rugby added that despite neither Samoa nor Tonga being involved in the 2026 Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup, “both unions will continue to receive targeted high-performance support and funding from World Rugby.” 

  The Pacific Nations Cup that will only feature Fiji, Japan, USA and Canada this year. It will be a 4 team knockout bracket. The USA will play a Tier 1 nation in Japan and either play Fiji or Canada. Fiji and Japan are Tier 1 nations but not as strong as the top teams in the Nations Championship. Fiji is o-3 with a 73-8 loss to England. Japan is 1-2 with a win against Italy. It is my belief that it would have been a bad idea to have the USA in the Tier 1 tournament. #14 ranked USA is not far behind both #9 Fiji and #10 Japan in the ranking. #24 Canada is pulling up the rear.

  The USA gets to test themselves against Tier 1 teams - aka Japan\Fiji. USA Rugby I believe made a good decision not to schedule a top Tier 1 nation like Scotland and lose 73-0 like they did last year. I believe that game hurt the Rugby Eagles. Playing a closer ranked nation and having the game be very competitive is much more important. Each nation would use both their offensive and defensive skills to combat their opponent. This would not happen is a blow out game when one team is just overmatched.

I think this is a perfect competition for the USA to challenge themselves against a Tier 1 nation - Japan. If the USA wins then everyone would want better competition just to see how good your team is. The USA could play Fiji if they beat Japan to play a second Tier 1 nation. This would get the USA Rugby Eagles 2 games against Tier 1 opponents. If the USA lose, the USA will find a determined opponent in their Arch rival Canada who they have not played this year. This game would be intense. Playing Canada every year is essential and is our Arch rivals in Ice Hockey, Rugby and now a big rival in soccer.  

2026 Liverty Rugby Conference

Division 1-AA
Boston College (Ma)
Northeastern (Ma)
UMass-Amherst (Ma)
Babson (Ma)
Princeton (NJ)
Yale, CT
Buffalo, NY
UConn, CT
Colombia. NY
Iona, NY
Harvard (Ma)

The Liberty Rugby Division 1-AA has 5 major changes in the 2026 season. Binghamton and Niagara are dropping down to Division 2 and will compete with Cornell and the rest of Division 2. The 2 bottom schools from Division 1 are joining Division 1-AA. Those schools are Harvard (Ma) and Iona College (NY).  These schools might find the opposition more equal in D-1AA. Princeton only has an Ivy league Rugby 7’s. Princeton will now field a Rugby XV team and will compete in Division 1-AA. This will bring a total of 4 Ivy League teams Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Colombia,  to Division 1-AA Rugby 15. 

This increases Liberty Rugby League in  1-AA division to 11 schools. That would give 5 home games and 5 away. The top 4 make the playoffs. Another idea would maybe have the  5 Massachusetts play H-A and the NY, NJ, CT schools play home and away games against each other. The reason is the Ma schools are much better. This would have the better schools play each other twice and avoid blowouts- where no one wins. This would also  create good rivalries games. Playing a rugby team twice in a season would really intensify the game itself. More competitive games not only elevate the game, it sharpens the players skills more when the games are more equally matched. The games would probably be more intense. 

Boston College has won Liberty D 1-AA in 2022, 2023, and 2025. They played in the Rugby national knock out tournament. UMass finished 2nd in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Northeastern went undefeated last year and lost one game by only 1 point to surprise Babson College. I believe Northeastern should have went to the playoffs to represent Liberty Rugby League. 

The consistently good clubs have been BC, UMass and Northeastern. Last year the entire league had a surprise Rugby school in Babson College. They upset undefeated Northeastern in the playoffs and went to the national knockout games. This gives the league 4 very good teams. While Yale and UConn have been building in CT, Princeton and Iona could really shake up the standings. This should be a fun year to monitor Rugby. 

 2026 Liberty Division 1-AA

USA Rugby Eagles Update Summer 2026

USA Rugby Update USA Rugby Eagles had a horrendous few years when they did not qualify for the Rugby World Cup in 2023. 2024: In January 2024, Scott Lawrence was officially appointed Head Coach of the USA Men’s Eagles and General Manager of the USA Men’s XVs programs. During the 2024 season, Lawrence led his side to fourth place in the 2024 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, and an unbeaten autumn European tour for the first time since 2013; with wins over Portugal, Tonga (their first over the nation since 1999), and Spain. 2024 Nov 9 Portugal W, 21-17 USA Nov 16 Tonga W, 36-17 USA Nov 23 Spain W, 26-23 USA 2025: Rugby World Cup qualification: 2025 (3-6) July 5th USA 15 W, 36-17 Belgium Test Charlotte, NC Am Legion Stadium July 12 USA 15 L, 20-31 Spain Test Charlotte, NC Am Legion Stadium July 19 USA 15 L, 5-40 England Test Audi Field Sept Canada 24 L, 34-20 USA 15 Pacific Nations Cup Group Sept USA 18 L, 47-21 Japan 13 Pacific Nations Cup Group Sept USA 18 W, 29-13 Samoa 5th place match. World Cup Qualification November Test Matches. Nov1 Scotland #6 L, 85-0 USA 15 Murrayfield, Scotland (USA 1W-6L) Nov 8 Georgia #13 L, 43-30 USA Batumi (USA 3W- 4 L) Nov 14 Romania W, 18-26 USA Bucharest Belgium USA 8W 3L Lawrence and the Eagles headed into 2025 on a bright note. The 2025 Pacific Nations Cup would be hosted in the USA. Also the qualification for the 2027 Rugby World Cup was rearranged. USA and Canada would mixed in with the Pacific Nations of Japan, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa - USA and Canada. There would be 5 World Cup spots for the 6 nations. Sounds easy but Japan and Fiji had already auto qualified- which left 3 spots for the 4 remaining nations. The 2025 Pacific Nations Cup would determine the spots. The good news USA beat Samoa for 5th place for the last spot and qualified for the Rugby World Cup. The enormous 2025 mission was accomplished. The Rugby Eagles then tested themselves and got annihilated in Scotland 85-0. Lawrence was incorporating new players for the 2027 and 2031 Rugby World Cup. This loss still put a damper on expectations. The USA then played old foe Georgia and lost in Georgia 43-30. This now gives Georgia a 4W 3L overall to the USA. The USA badly needed a win and beat Romania 26-18 in Bucharest after losing 6 games this year. The Romania win gave the USA only 3 wins on the year. 3-6. The USA Rugby Eagles ended the 2025 season ranked 16. The Rugby Eagles are not a Top 12 or high performance nation in Rugby. The Eagles are clearly Tier 2. Tier 2 Rugby has gotten a lot more competitive and expansive. The Tier 2 nations have more than doubled in the last decade and more nations are improving at a high rate. July 4 Portugal #14 W, 30-29 USA 16 (H) July 11 Zimbabwe 25 W, 31-15 #14 USA H July 19 #16 Spain w, 29-22 #14 USA H Aug 15 Argentina XV USA H Sep 12 Japan H USA Fiji\Canada USA Oct 24 Australia A USA H Oct 30 Australia A USA H Nov 7 Hong Kong H usa Nov 14 Romania H USA Nov 21 Georgia H USA 2026: Nations Cup and Pacific Cup. The 2026 would be a fun year for the Eagles. They have qualified for the Rugby World Cup 2027 -Australia so there is no desperate pressure. The Rugby Eagles have 2 tournaments and 11 games in all in 2026. These games will tell Lawrence which younger players are ready for the World Cup. The big tournament is the inaugural Nations League Cup with all Tier 2 nations. These Nations are ranked 13 - 25. The 6 games are 3 home and 3 away. I believe this is an excellent idea to have evenly matched nations play in this event. The USA and other teams will not be blown out 85-0 by a Tier 1 nation like Scotland. The other tournament is the Pacific Nations Cup that will only feature Fiji, Japan, USA and Canada. It will be a 4 team knockout bracket. The USA will play a Tier 1 nation in Japan and either play Fiji or Canada. Again this is perfect for my Rugby Eagles. Since they get to test themselves against Tier 1 teams - aka Japan. If they beat Japan they get to play another Tier 1 nation in Fiji. If the Eagles lose to Japan they still have their rivals Canada to play for 3rd place. Playing Canada every year is essential and glad there is an opportunity to play that tough team from the North in a meaningful game. The USA also schedules 3 other games against Argentina XV and 2 games against Australia A. Both these nations are in Tier 1 but these players are players trying to make the top team. The USA will also be trying new players and trying to have the team gel just like Argentina and Australia. I also think this is a good idea- IT becomes a bad idea if the game is not competitive. In the Rugby World Cups, the USA has not fared well. The USA will only be favorites to win 1 game. S0 I want to enjoy 2026 and the build up. 2026 should be a good year. We as fans can look forward to playing other nations and hoping to get a string of victories. Well that is Lawrences and my hope.

 

USA Rugby Schedule 2025, 2026 2027

2025 (3-6)
July 5	USA 15	W, 36-17	Belgium	Test Charlotte, NC  Am Legion Stadium
July 12	USA 15	L, 20-31	Spain	Test Charlotte, NC  Am Legion Stadium
July 19	USA 15	L, 5-40	England	Test Audi Field
Sept	Canada 24	L, 34-20	USA 15	Pacific Nations Cup Group
Sept	USA 18	L, 47-21	Japan 13	Pacific Nations Cup Group
Sept	USA 18	W, 29-13	Samoa	5th place match. World Cup Qualification
November Test Matches.
Nov1	Scotland #6	L, 85-0	USA 15	Murrayfield, Scotland (USA 1W-6L)
Nov 8	Georgia #13	L, 43-30	USA	Batumi (USA 3W- 4 L)
N 14	Romania	W, 18-26	USA	Bucharest Belgium USA 8W 3L
2026 (2-0)
July 4	Portugal #14	W, 30-29	USA 16 (H)	Nations League Cup: Denver 10,500
July 11	Zimbabwe 25	W, 31-15	USA H #14	Nations League Cup  North
July 19	Spain #16		USA H	Nations League Cup
Au 15	Argentina XV		USA H	Test inter Miami Stadium
Sep 12	Japan H		USA	Pacific Nations cup
	Fiji\Canada		USA	Pacific Nations Cup
Oct 24	Australia A		USA H	Test Geodis Park
Oct 30	Australia A		USA H	Test Sports Illustrated Stadium
Nov 7	Hong Kong H		USA	Nations League Cup
Nov14	Romania H		USA	Nations League Cup
Nov21	Georgia H		USA	Nations League Cup
2027
Oct 2	France		USA	World Cup Australia
Oct 9	Samoa		USA	World Cup Australia
Oct 15	Japan		USA	World Cup Australia