2006 IRB Pacific 5 Nations | |
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Tournament details | |
Countries | Fiji Japan Junior All Blacks Samoa Tonga |
Tournament format(s) | Round-robin |
Date | 3 June - 1 July 2006 |
Tournament statistics | |
Teams | 5 |
Matches played | 10 |
Attendance | 66,917 (6,692 per match) |
Tries scored | 67 (6.7 per match) |
Top point scorer(s) | James Gopperth (Junior All Blacks) (47 points) |
Top try scorer(s) | Anthony Tuitavake (Junior All Blacks) (4 tries) |
Final | |
Champions | Junior All Blacks (1st title) |
Runners-up | Samoa |
The 2006 IRB Pacific 5 Nations was the inaugural IRB Pacific 5 Nations rugby union competition held between five Pacific Rim sides; Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and the Junior All Blacks (New Zealand's second XV). The inaugural tournament kicked off on 3 June 2006 with the Junior All Blacks proclaimed the winner after their 38–8 defeat of Japan on 24 June 2006.
Australia was invited to take part but decided against sending a team as they wanted to focus on their domestic competition. However, Australia hosted two games, and Australian Rugby Union CEO Gary Flowers stated that Australia was keen to participate in the tournament from 2007 onwards. On 18 October 2006, it was announced that they would send their second XV. For this reason, the inaugural tournament was the only one to be known as the "Pacific 5 Nations", and from 2007 the competition was known as the Pacific Nations Cup.