The United States will host the 2025 Pacific Nations Cup Finals as World Rugby seeks to drive audience and demand for the sport ahead of the men’s World Cup heading to the U.S. in 2031 and the women’s edition going Stateside in 2033.
The PNC is a six-team rugby tournament which features the U.S., Canada, Japan, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. It provides a pathway for qualification for the World Cup in Australia in 2027. Japan and Fiji have already qualified for the World Cup owing to their top 12 finish during the previous tournament in 2023 and a further three teams will qualify directly for the tournament via their placing in the PNC.
The sixth-placed team in the round-robin tournament will then get a further opportunity to qualify for the World Cup when they enter a play-off against a team from South America.
The semi-finals will be played at DICK’s Sporting Goods Park in Denver, Colorado, which is the 18,000-seater home of MLS team Colorado Rapids. The final and bronze medal play-off game will be played at the 20,000-seater America First Field in Salt Lake, Utah.
A pool game between Japan and the U.S. will also be played in Sacramento, California, on September 5, ahead of the semi-finals in Denver on September 13 and the Grand Final on September 20.
Fiji won the…
