The Flying Fijians were often devastating with the ball at Suva as they eased to a deserved victory in their first outing of this year’s Pacific Nations Cup. But handling errors as much as determined and unflinching Tongan defence kept the scoreline down.
Japan, meanwhile, overcame a sloppy first-half to ease away from a dogged Canada side in the final 20 minutes of their opener in Sendai to send their own message of tournament intent.
FIJI 32 TONGA 10
Fiji kicked off the defence of their Pacific Nations Cup title with a convincing if imperfect four-try win over a determined but outplayed Tonga at Suva.
The hosts attacked from all quarters of the pitch, and stretched the visitors’ defence out of shape time and again. But for handling errors, they might have scored more than their four tries.
But they needed an early wake-up call. And they got it as ‘Ikale Tahi scrum-half Augustine Pulu pulled out a trademark snipe from the base of a ruck with less than two minutes on the clock after loosehead Siegfried Fisi’ihoi had bust a hole through the heart of their defence.
Fiji coach Mick Byrne later said that his side had plenty to learn from that slow start. “It was a tough one, our first game in – you could see they were match-hardened,” he said. “They started very well. We didn’t get our game going as well as we would have liked and they controlled the tempo. We’ll take some learnings from that.”
That sentiment was echoed by try-scoring captain Tevita Ikanivere. “We are bit disappointed with our start. We talked about coming out in the first 20 and ‘welcoming’ Tonga. But, thankful for the boys coming back with great spirit and getting the win.”
The early score shocked Fiji into action. They began to spread the ball at pace, showing how dangerous they can be. A Caleb Muntz penalty got them on the board with five minutes on the clock. A few minutes later, a metre-chewing maul ended with a yellow card for backrow Siosiua Moala – he would get a second card 13 minutes from time as Tonga, after their bright start, chased shadows.
Fiji ramped up the pace and ambition. In the blink of an eye, an innocuous ruck in their own 22 turned into a try for Seta Tamanivalu 95m further up the pitch three minutes later. Accurate, quick interplay, width and devastating pace did the damage.
A mirror-image performance led to Fiji’s highlight-reel second down the other wing in the 20th minute. More fast hands kept the ball moving until the defensive space opened up for Kalaveti Ravouvou. A step to flat-foot the final defender and he was clear to score under the posts.
It was more of the same for most of the remainder of the first half – until Pellegrini had the final say with a penalty to reduce the deficit to seven points on half-time.
That was as good as it would get for the visitors, as the second-half followed a similar script. Fiji had all the ball, all the control. The biggest surprise was how long they needed to break down Tonga’s defence after the break.
Muntz got them moving with a 51st-minute penalty, before Ikanivere received an inside pass from Loganimasi and charged over after 62 minutes. And Taniela Rakuro dotted down a loose ball to have the final say of an on-the-Tonga-tryline skirmish five minutes later.
It was the final scoring act, as a knock-on denied Tonga a try on the hooter.
The visitors’ Salesi Piutau was left to rue his side’s indiscipline. “We started well, but discipline kept us in our own half and against a good team like Fiji, they’ll make the most of those chances and turn them into points.”
Despite the disappointment, Tonga coach Nili Latu struck a positive final note: “Our mission is to qualify for the Rugby World Cup. We’re on the right track. We’ll regroup and go again.”
JAPAN 57 CANADA 15
Japan backrow Amato Fakatava scored a try in each half as the Brave Blossoms eased away from a determined Canada in the final quarter to open their Pacific Nations Cup 2025 challenge with an important win in Sendai.
As head coach Eddie Jones had promised, Japan started at a furious pace, Fakatava crashing over after a quick tap penalty in the third minute.
Although the Brave Blossoms’ ‘Chosoku’ rugby dominated early on, Stephen Meehan’s Canada were in no mood to lose the positive momentum of last weekend’s win over USA in Calgary.
Aggressive Canadian defence kept the home side at bay numerous times in the first quarter. More than once they held out as the home side piled on the pressure, forcing multiple scrums.
Josiah Morra somehow held up Kippei Ishida over the line when the wing seemed certain to score with 12 minutes on the clock. Japan were on penalty advantage, but the three points that followed was a better result for the visitors than the hosts.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Canada were on the front foot. Twice, Japan held out against attacking lineouts. But they could not stop a third, as Siôn Parry came up with the ball at the end of one driven maul too many.
And Shane O’Leary won the chase to a high bomb from Peter Nelson to put Japan on the backfoot again, allowing the visitors to level the scores through a Nelson penalty on the half-hour.
But the hosts’ captain Warner Dearns, who led from the front all match, crashed through two defenders to score under the posts to take Japan into a 17-10 lead at the break. Fakatava’s second – a run in as Canada ran out of defenders – 15 minutes into the second period extended their lead.
That was the catalyst Japan needed. Sam Greene skated over in the corner five minutes later. And, with Japan turning the screw, Ben Gunter capped a huge performance with a lineout drive score with 15 minutes left on the clock. Tomoki Osada and Kippei Ishida both finished off slick moves in the closing 10 minutes as Canada tired.
Replacement Jesse Mackail powered over for a deserved consolation try for hard-working Canada late on. But Ishidi darted over for his double to have the final word after the hooter.
Japan’s first-time skipper Warner Dearns was content with the win. “It was a really tough game,” he said. “Canada really showed up in the first half and we were under a lot of pressure. I’ve got to thank the boys for coming out in the sh and putting up a good fight – really happy to be able to win my first game as captain.
And Eddie Jones put a misfiring first half down to first-game rustiness. “We were really poor in the first half, but sometimes when it’s your first game of the tournament, that can happen,” he said. “I was really pleased for the players in the second half. I thought they played well.”
Canada captain Lucas Rumball rued his side’s inability to hold on to the ball. “I think we stuck well in it in the first 40, I think our gameplan was good – credit to japan, they adjusted well at halftime. We stuck with it for a bit, but they overcame us in the last 20. At the end of the day, you’ve got to take care of the ball [and] we didn’t do that.”
Coach Stephen Meehan added: “We couldn’t quite perform at the same level as we did last week, but we’ll go away and keep working on things.”
