Fiji made it back-to-back Pacific Nations Cup titles after they edged Japan 33-27 in a thrilling final at America First Field, in Salt Lake City, Utah on Saturday.
It was a dramatic ending to the tournament as the Fijians recovered from a 10-0 deficit to lead 33-10 early in the second half before the Brave Blossoms responded.
Eddie Jones‘ outfit scored 17 points in a purple patch of their own before the 65th minute, but that was the last of the scoring as Fiji managed to see out the match.
Seventh PNC triumph
This is Fiji’s seventh Pacific Nations Cup (PNC) title as Mick Byrne’s team got the better of Japan in an epic fixture that saw eight tries scored in a pulsating finale.
Mesake Vocevoce, Inia Tabuavou, Tevita Ikanivere and player of the match Joji Nasova (2) claimed Fiji’s scores, with Caleb Muntz converting four of the crossings.
Hayate Era (2) and Ichigo Nakakusu scored for the Brave Blossoms as Seungsin Lee converted all three and added a further two penalty goals in his 12-point haul.
Speaking after the triumph, Fiji captain Tevita Ikanivere was proud of how his team held on in the closing stages, particularly when they had players sin-binned.
“We overcame a tough side who came back in the second half. The pace they brought and the ill-discipline we had – I am proud of the 13, 14 boys on the field, just working hard for each other,” he said.
Fiji boss Byrne was similarly delighted with his team’s defiance, taking pride in how they “dug deep” to get the job done against a determined Japanese side in Utah.
“It was tough today, wasn’t it? The fight we had at the end, we were down a couple of cards, things didn’t seem to be going our way out on the field – but the boys dug deep, defended well under a bit of pressure and had some composure to come back at the end and control the game,” he said.
Meanwhile, Japan head coach Jones admitted the defeat was hard to swallow as he pinpointed the reason why they lost the final but also took looked at the positives.
“It’s been a good tournament to play for our young team. 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,” he said.
Awesome game of rugby
Japan captain Warner Dearns added: “We probably let them get away from us too much in the first half and we just couldn’t bring it back in the second, but I thought the way our boys fought was unreal. It was an awesome game of rugby.
“We love to play an attacking style of rugby. When we have ball in hand and can play that quick tempo rugby, that’s the biggest positive we’ve got. We’ve got to work on that and look forward to playing some games at the end of the year.”
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AloJapan.com