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Five-time champions Fiji opened their 2024 Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup campaign with a 42-16 win over Samoa on Friday, while Japan beat host Canada 55-28 in their second match on Sunday.
The two games had very different scoring patterns, with Fiji trailing 16-15 at halftime to emerge victorious, while Japan led 38-7 at halftime but “lost” the game in the second half as Canada delighted the BC Place crowd with a thrilling performance.
EDDIE takes action
Eddie Jones, in his second spell as coach of Japan, finally succeeded at his fourth attempt, beating Canada after home losses to England, Georgia and Italy. In the first half in Vancouver, the Warriors stuck to their running rugby philosophy, scoring 38 points at a rate of more than a point a minute before allowing Canada to score.
The first half was a perfect example of what Jones calls a style of “super-fast rugby” as Japan moved the ball around at high speed. Throughout the game, they took the ball from scrum in under three seconds, or less, 80 percent of the time – an incredible pace by Test standards. Canada fought back valiantly in the second half, but the higher-ranked Japanese team had a huge points advantage, so the outcome was never in doubt.
Star transfers
There may not be Michael Leitch’s name on the Japan roster, but another naturalized New Zealand forward who also grew up in Japan since the age of 14 stole the show in Vancouver with a stellar performance. At just 22 years old, second-row giant Warner Deans snatched the lineout, hit a few hard hits and broke through the line, and scored a few touchdowns in the 80-minute match. At this level of form, you’d expect his international career to be as long as the 35-year-old Leitch, Japan’s second-most-capped player.
Canada’s dual threat
Canada responded after trailing 38-7 at halftime, and the performances of twin brothers Talon and Takoda McMullin also helped Canada. Inside center Talon scored his first tentative goal for Canada in the second half when he took a quick pass from Andrew Quitlin and cut a beautiful route to evade the Japanese defense.
Takoda came on for the final 20 minutes of the match and like all good twins he emulated his brother’s achievements, although his first try ended in a very different way. Chasing a lobbed ball into the goal area, the substitute winger did an excellent job of grabbing the ball and applying enough downward pressure with one hand to convince the TMO that he had hit the ball correctly.
Clinical Fiji
In the first game, Samoa had more territory and possession than Fiji, but they lagged far behind Fiji in converting chances. Fiji scored almost every time they entered the opponent’s 22-yard line (6 yards from the 13-yard line), while Samoa only scored once in seven times entering the “red zone”, averaging 3.23 points per scoring.
Fiji was particularly aggressive until Samoa’s touchdown scorer Pisi Leilua was sent off in the 53rd minute for pulling a player off the ball. In the period, they scored 14 points with two touchdowns to snatch the win from their Pacific opponents. What a strong attack!
Monster Muntz!
Fiji seems to be lucky to have two promising young halves in Caleb Muntz and Isaiah Armstrong-Lavula (nephew of All Blacks star Richie Moonga). Muntz played in Fiji’s historic win over England last year, having been out for nine months due to injury, but proved he deserves first choice against Samoa.
Aside from a hastily missed conversion attempt (when the ball dropped twice from the service box, leaving him with precious time left in the 60-second try), Muntz was excellent, and not just with the ball in his hands. Defensively, the 87kg midfielder punched above his weight, making more tackles than any other player on the pitch and only turning the ball over twice (16 of 18 tackles were successful). His completion rate was 89%, well above the team average.
Welcome to Test Rugby
Eleven players made their international debuts over the weekend, either starting or coming off the bench, and it’s fair to say that some debuts were more memorable than others. One of those was Fijian defender Vuate Karawalevu, who recovered from a few nervous moments in the early stages to produce a masterclass. Karawalevu took numerous long passes with aplomb and showed a decent shot when he needed to use his feet.
For new Moane Pacifica signing Tuna Tuitama, there are hopes for better days ahead. The right-winger barely received a single pass in his 70 minutes on the pitch, with his 10 minutes of absence coming due to an unnecessary indiscipline when he took out his frustration on Frank Lomani and was sent off for a tackle on the Fijian halfback.
The second round of the 2024 Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup will kick off on Friday, August 30, when Samoa will face Tonga in Apia (17:00 local time), while the United States will also make its debut in the tournament, along with Tonga, against Canada in Los Angeles on Saturday, August 31 (18:00 local time).
Source: World Rugby
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