Rotorua will host the 2026 Oceania Rugby 7s Cup tournament next month.
Oceania Rugby and New Zealand Rugby have partnered with the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union to host the event, which will be the only international rugby sevens tournament in New Zealand this year.
The event will feature eight teams in the Men’s Cup – Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands and Niue.
The women’s competition runs across two sections, the Oceania 7s Women’s Cup, which will feature Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Niue and Solomon Islands, and a six-team International Women’s Invitational, featuring Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, France, Japan and the United States.
The tournament will be held at the Rotorua International Stadium.
“This is a golden era for rugby in our region,” Oceania Rugby president Richard Sapias said/
“It’s encouraging to see the continued support of the Australian government through PacificAus Sports and its Rugby World Cup 2027 and 2029 legacy investment, Impact Beyond Pasifika,” he said.
“This support for the Oceania 7s will provide a valuable platform to deliver high performance, media and communications education and training to participating Pacific teams and their staff, while supporting the region’s continued strength in sevens rugby ahead of Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032.”
New Zealand Rugby Sevens high-performance lead Hannah Porter said they are pleased to have the Oceania Rugby 7s Cup here in New Zealand.
“We are excited for the opportunity for our players to get some valuable game time against international opposition as we look toward the 2026/27 HSBC SVNS Series. I know our players are looking forward to playing in front of whanau, friends and home fans in Rotorua.”
The action on 31 October will start at 9:00am, with pool matches across all three competitions, setting the seedings for Sunday.
The 1 November 1 schedule will have knockout football – quarter-finals and semi-finals in the Men’s Cup, and semi-finals in both women’s competitions – building to a finals session that closes out the tournament with the Women’s International Invitational, Women’s Cup and Men’s Cup finals played back-to-back into the evening.
Oceania Rugby general manager Frank Puletua said the event promises to be a competitive one.
“This is one of the most competitive Oceania 7s Cup fields we’ve assembled, with SVNS qualification on the line for five Member Unions in both the men’s and women’s competitions.
“We want to thank RotoruaNZ and the wider Rotorua team for hosting this year’s tournament – their support helps us keep pushing rugby forward across our region, and gives our players and fans a world-class stage to decide it.”
Over the two-day tournament, the Cup and the second-tier Oceania 7s Challenge will continue to operate as connected competitions, with promotion and relegation between them providing a transparent, merit-based pathway for Member Unions to progress.
Bay of Plenty Rugby Union CEO Mike Rogers said they are happy to have the event.
“Bay of Plenty Rugby is proud to support Rotorua in hosting the Oceania Rugby 7s Cup. Events of this calibre benefit rugby right across our region, from grassroots clubs through to our high-performance pathway, and we’re looking forward to welcoming teams and fans to Rotorua International Stadium.”
RotoruaNZ head of commercial Sam Hulton said Rotorua is thrilled to be hosting the Oceania 7s Cup 2026, the only international sevens tournament taking place in Aotearoa.
“Welcoming teams from across Oceania and around the world is a fantastic opportunity to showcase Rotorua as a leading host of international sporting events and to share our unique culture, experiences and hospitality with visitors,” he said.
“We know events like this deliver real benefits for our community while reinforcing Rotorua’s reputation as a vibrant destination for major events, sport and tourism.”
Hosting the tournament reinforces Rotorua’s position as a leading destination for major international sporting events, and offers visitors more than the action on the field – combining international sport with world-renowned Māori culture, geothermal landscapes and adventure experiences, within easy reach of Auckland, Waikato and the wider Bay of Plenty.
The event will be a good warm-up event for Fiji, Australia and New Zealand teams plus the women’s teams from France and USA.
