South Pacific Championship
| South Pacific Championship | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Sport | Rugby union football |
| Inaugural season | 1986 |
| Ceased | 1990 |
| Number of teams | 6 |
| Country |
Australia (2 teams) Fiji (1 team) New Zealand (3 teams) |
| Holders | Auckland (1990) |
| Most titles | Auckland (4 titles) |
| Broadcast partner |
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| Related competition |
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The South Pacific Championship (also known as "SPC") was a rugby union competition that was introduced in 1986 and contested through to 1990. The competition featured six teams - three provinces from New Zealand; Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington, two Australian teams; Queensland and New South Wales, and one team representing Pacific Island rugby, Fiji.
The South Pacific Championship was the predecessor of the Super 6 and Super 10, as well as the professional-era Super 12 and Super 14 tournaments that subsequently expanded to become the Super Rugby competition.
The AGC South Pacific Championship was organised by the New South Wales Rugby Union (NSWRU) on an invitational basis. The impetus for starting the competition was to provide regular matches for the New South Wales and Queensland teams in an attempt to compete against rugby league football - which was expanding its domestic competition in Australia.
The New Zealand provincial teams Auckland and Canterbury were invited into the competition due to their close links with the New South Wales and Queensland unions respectively. A third New Zealand team, Wellington, was invited due to having an international airport in the city. Fiji was also invited into the competition as, at the time, it was the most competitive of the Pacific rugby teams.
The South Pacific Championship was dominated by New Zealand teams and, most particularly, by Auckland. Canterbury won the first title in 1986 and shared the second title with Auckland in 1987, but then Auckland won outright for the next three seasons in a row.
The competition collapsed five years after it began, when the NSWRU found itself in financial difficulties before the 1991 season was started.
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