It’s the final round of the Pacific Nations Cup this weekend, with Tonga and Fiji rounding out the matches for Pool A and Japan vs USA completing Pool B.
Both Japan and USA sit at the top of Pool B, both defeating Canada confidently in their opening matches of the competition.
Canada is at the bottom of the pool which means they will have a chance to hopefully secure their first win of the tournament in the fifth place playoff.
Meanwhile, Japan and USA will battle it out for the top of the pool this weekend which also solidifies both teams in semi final positions.
Over in Pool A, Fiji look odds-on to take top spot having already notched up a big wins against Samoa, and now face a struggling Tonga side.
After suffering their opening loss to Fiji, Samoa outclassed Tonga at Apia Park, pummelling them 43-17.
Both Samoa and Fiji currently stand as automatic semi finals qualifiers from the pool.
Tonga have a slim chance to make the last four but need to beat Fiji by at least 27 points and score at least four tries while denying their opponents any points from the game, a tall order for even the best prepared teams.
Meanwhile Samoa has completed their round robin and now wait for the playoffs. A big work-on for new coach Mahonri Schwalger and his team is to focus on putting in an 80 minute performance rather than a 60 minute one.
In both of their pool matches, Samoa established good leads but allowed the opposition back into the game. In round one, the four-time champions stormed into a 13-3 lead against Fiji and still led by a point at half-time.
However, they fell away badly in the second half, conceding 27 unanswered points to lose 42-16. And against Tonga, Samoa looked set to rewrite the record books and beat Tonga by more than 50 points for the first time in history as they raced into a 29-0 lead after 46 minutes.
However, from the moment Izaiha Moore-Aiono barged his way over from close range in the 46th minute, Samoa did not score again until the flanker crossed for his second try six minutes from time. In the 26 minutes that elapsed between those scores, Tonga racked up 17 points thanks to Lotu Inisi’s brace and seven points from the boot of Pat Pellegrini.
With 12 months still to go before men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 qualification kicks in, Pacific region teams have taken the opportunity to blood new talent in this year’s edition of the competition, a feature widely covered in NZ sports news.
Hooker Penisoni Fineanganofo and flankers Tupou Afungia and Siosiua Moala started for Tonga, while Tevita Ahokovi and Samuel Tuitupou debuted from the bench. USA replacement hooker Sean McNulty and American footballer turned prop Pono Davis got their first taste of life at the highest level after coming on in the final quarter.
