SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Japan gave away five consecutive tries and fell short with their comeback as Fiji claimed the Pacific Nations Cup with a 33-27 win in the final on Saturday.
The 13th-ranked Brave Blossoms trailed 26-10 at the break and their two second-half tries were not enough in Salt Lake City as the ninth-ranked Fijians won the title back-to-back, improving their head-to-head record against Japan to 17-4 in the process.
“It’s been a good tournament to play for our young team,” Japan head coach Eddie Jones said on the World Rugby website. “It’s a hard pill to swallow — we played well in the second half but let Fiji get away too much in the first half.”
His men got the opening try in the fifth minute with hooker Hayate Era diving in at the right corner from a five-meter lineout. Lee Seung Sin added extras before the flyhalf also kicked a penalty midway through the first half.
But Fiji scored through Mesake Vocevoce straight from the kickoff at America First Field after winning the battle in the air and Inia Tabuavou put them ahead in the 31st minute after his team stole the ball inside their own 22 and produced silky offloads.
Things got worse for Japan as Tevita Ikanivere had a clear run down the right before Joji Nasova showed great pace in a solo run to both go over for a 26-10 halftime lead.
The Flying Fijians got their fifth straight try three minutes after the break when wing Nasova launched and finished off an attack from inside his own half with Caleb Muntz nailing his fourth conversion for a 33-10 advantage.
Japan finally ended the onslaught when fullback Ichigo Nakakusu broke clear on the right to score in the 47th minute and Era powered his way from a maul for his second try on the hour mark.
Lee kicked both conversions and a penalty to cut the deficit to six points as Fiji briefly had two players sin-binned in the second half, but Japan could not get another try to complete a comeback.
AloJapan.com