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The Fiji Times - Wednesday, August 06, 2008 11:46 AM

NATIONS CUP: FIJI could be playing two extra matches in the Pacific Nations Cup from 2009, if plans to include Canada and the United States of America go ahead.

FIJI could be playing two extra matches in the Pacific Nations Cup from 2009, if plans to include Canada and the United States of America go ahead.
The expansion has been part of discussions held between SANZAR (South Africa, New Zealand and Australia Rugby Unions), Canada and USA last month.
While the two nations are not rated strong enough to be included in the Tri-Nations or Super 14, the PNC will be an ideal development stage.
The next option is to get them to play in the expanded PNC against Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Japan, New Zealand Maori and Australia A.
Fiji Rugby Union high performance unit manager Peter Murphy said while the expansion would be beneficial, there were other areas that would be studied first.
"We need to look at all the logistics," Murphy said.
"Having extra matches is good but then things like player availability and duration of the tournament must be considered."
SANZAR held meetings with Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The outcome from their discussions was tabled at a SANZAR workshop in Perth.