If the opening round thrillers between the Kiwis and Toa Samoa in the men’s Pacific Cup and the Kiwi Ferns and Fetū Sāmoa in the women’s Pacific Cup are any indication, the gap between Tier 1 and Tier 2 nations, once a yawning chasm, is getting narrower and narrower. And the Pacific Championships itself has played a major role in that.

For so long, rugby has been a closed shop, with the power dynamics skewed emphatically in the favor of Australia and New Zealand, who had (and continue to have) the money and access to recruit the best talent from the Pacific Islands, as those nations were starved of opportunities. The Pacific Championships provides a real incentive for elite players to look beyond the Kangaroos and Kiwis, and reconnect with their roots.