Eddie Jones’ Brave Blossoms would love to lift the trophy on home soil at Tokyo’s Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium next weekend, but Fiji remain the favourites despite a difficult summer in the Nations Championship.
Here are some important plotlines to follow in this year’s tournament.
Fiji shore up their defence
After conceding 130 across their three matches against Wales, England and Scotland in the Nations Championship this summer – including 73 against England in Liverpool – Fiji have moved to improve their defensive output by adding experienced coach Dave Ellis to the staff.
In charge of defensive systems for close to three decades, Ellis was most successful with France in the 2000s under Bernard Laporte and Marc Lièvremont, with France reaching the Rugby World Cup in 2011 before Ellis left the setup.
Senirusi Seruvakula remains in charge as interim head coach for the PNC following the departure of Mick Byrne, with Fiji then hoping to appoint a full-time successor to Byrne in time for the next leg of Nations Championship matches later this year.
Can the USA keep the good vibes going?
The summer slate of Nations Cup fixtures was a tremendous success for the USA, topping the Americas-Pacific pool with three wins from three including a one-point thriller against Portugal.
Those efforts were backed up by another narrow win over an Argentina XV. Who knows if USA head coach Scott Lawrence believes in momentum or not, but the Eagles certainly have it going into a game with Japan in their PNC semi-final that will be a considerable step up.
The return from injury of Joe Taufete’e is certainly welcome, with the former Worcester and Lyon hooker giving the USA a focal point in their set-piece and in attack with his ball-carrying.
Japan’s resources go deeper than the club game
So far this year Japan’s biggest success story has been a discovery at fly-half, with Ryunosuke Ito a standout performer even in defeats for the Brave Blossoms to Australia and Ireland.
Ito only became contracted to a Top League club in July, joining Suntory Sungoliath in Japan’s top division, the home to so many world-leading players. When he was first capped at the start of the summer, Ito had only played for Meiji University.
Eddie Jones, Japan’s head coach, has spoken openly about the hunt for talented players at university level, and believes there are more gems to be found.
Based on Ito’s unexpected performances so far in 2026, Jones may be onto something.
Canada looking for reasons to be cheerful
That optimism around the USA is not shared north of the border, with Canada coming off a disappointing Nations Cup campaign in which they narrowly beat Zimbabwe in their only win.
Off the field there are interesting developments, with Canada Rugby announcing a new partnership with the Champ in England this week to create a new high-performance arrangement.
That helped to distract from a demoralising defeat to Japan on 5 September, when an understrength Canada team were well beaten in Niigata, building into what already looks like a difficult few weeks.
Veterans Tyler Ardron and Peter Nelson will have key roles to play as Canada hope to be competitive, with Cooper Coats at fly-half another important player, but there is plenty of work to do for Canada to keep up with their PNC rivals.
No Top 14 players
With the Top 14 season in France now underway, Fiji’s squad will have a fresh look from the group that assembled in the summer, when 15 players were involved, including standouts Josua Tuisova, Jiuta Wainiqolo and Pita Gus Sowakula.
The two overseas players Fiji have selected are fly-half Caleb Muntz, who plays in the French second division for Provence, and Kalaveti Ravouvou from Bristol bears.
As a result, Seruvakula has named seven uncapped players in his squad, including Taranaki back Isaac Ratuimatavuki-Kneepkens.
For Fiji, this tournament is a chance to build valuable depth. For their rivals, a golden opportunity to try and stop Fiji from making it three titles in a row.
