2008 Churchill Cup

Participation

The entry of an Argentinian XV into the competition stems from a decision by the New Zealand Rugby Union not to assemble its 'A' team, the Junior All Blacks, in 2008; as a consequence, the New Zealand Māori, who have taken part in the last three Churchill Cup tournaments, replaced the Juniors in the Pacific Nations Cup and were not available for the Churchill Cup.

Format

The teams were split into two pools of three teams each. Within each pool, the teams played one another once. All six teams participated in a finals day: the two pool winners competed in the final for the Churchill Cup, the two runners-up played in a Plate final, and the two bottom-placed teams competed for a Bowl.

Venues

After the 2007 tournament, which was the first to be played outside of North America, the 2008 tournament returned to North America again. The pool games were played at three venues in Ontario, Canada: Fletcher's Fields, Markham; Twin Elm Rugby Park, Nepean; and Richardson Memorial Stadium, Kingston. Finals Day took place at Toyota Park, Chicago.

Fixtures

USA Pool

date = 2008-06-07 14:00 | home = | score = 64 – 10 | report = Report| away = | homescore = | awayscore = | stadium = Lansdowne Stadium, Ottawa, Ontario | attendance = | referee = A Macpherson (Scotland) }}

date = 2008-06-11 19:00 | home = | score = 9 – 46 | report = Report | away = | homescore = | awayscore = | stadium = Richardson Memorial Stadium, Kingston | attendance = | referee = F Cuesta (Argentina) }}

date = 2008-06-14 14:00 | home = | score = 12 – 34 | report = | away = | homescore = | awayscore = | stadium = Fletcher's Fields, Markham | attendance = | referee = }}

Canada Pool

date = 2008-06-07 16:30 | home = | score = 24 – 10 | report = | away = | homescore = | awayscore = | stadium = Twin Elm Rugby Park, Nepean | attendance = | referee = }}

date = 2008-06-11 16:30 | home = | score = 27 – 24 | report = | away = | homescore = | awayscore = | stadium = Richardson Memorial Stadium, Kingston | attendance = | referee = }}

date = 2008-06-14 16:30 | home = | score = 17 – 16 | report = | away = | homescore = | awayscore = | stadium = Fletcher's Fields, Markham | attendance = | referee = }}

Finals

Bowl Final

date = 2008-06-21 16:15 | home = | score = 10 – 26 | report = Report homescore = | awayscore = | stadium = Toyota Park, Chicago | attendance = | referee = }}

Plate Final

date = 2008-06-21 11:45| home = | score = 8 – 33 | report = | away = | homescore = | awayscore = | stadium = Toyota Park, Chicago | attendance = | referee = }}

Cup Final

date = 2008-06-21 14:00 | home = | score = 36 – 19 | report = | away = | homescore = | awayscore = | stadium = Toyota Park, Chicago | attendance = | referee = }}

References

References

1. (2007-09-26). "New Zealand Maori to join IRB Pacific Nations Cup". allblacks.com.
2. (2007-09-26). "NZ Maori joins IRB Pacific Nations Cup". IRB.
3. "England A (24) 64 - 10 (7) United States of America (FT)".
4. "Ireland A (12) 46 - 9 (6) United States of America (FT)".
5. "United States of America (10) 10 - 26 (0) Canada (FT)".