Japan and Fiji clinch victories in ongoing Pacific Nations Cup 2011 - Rugby News
Japan and Fiji have recorded wins in their respective matches against Tonga and Samoa, in the ongoing Pacific Nations Cup, on July 9. Japan defeated Tonga by 28-27 after a very close contest, whereas Fiji sailed past Samoa with a comprehensive margin of
36-18. After the completion of two rounds of the tournament, all four sides competing in the cup have won one match each.
Earlier, in the first round of the Pacific Nations Cup, Japan and Fiji lost their opening matches. Today’s victories have given both teams a survival line as defeats could have ruled them out from the event.
Japan played a wonderful game against Tonga to stay in the tournament. They were struggling with a big margin after the end of first-half. Tonga had full control of the game at one occasion as they were leading by 17-7. Japan bounced back quite nicely to
continue their five match winning streak against Tonga in the Pacific Nations Cup competitions.
Tongan player, Kurt Morath, helped his sides with kicks on conversions and penalties in the match. Their flanker Viliame Ma'afu scored a splendid try in the first- half. The second part of the match belonged to Japan as they realised that it was the right
time to show some aggression in the match.
The Japanese picked up their game in the second-half after their winger, Kosuke Endo, scored the first try of the match for his team. Takashi Kikutani and Koji Taira further boosted their team with one try each and put Japan in a comfortable position at
28-17, with 15 minutes remaining in the match.
Tonga made some desperate efforts in the later part of the game and ended the game just one point behind the Japanese. Japan grabbed the first victory of the event after an interesting contest by 28-27.
Meanwhile, Fiji proved too strong for Samoa in the second round match of the tournament. Fijians dominated the opponents from the start of the game and they scored five tries in the match. They walked off the field with a whopping 36 – 18 win.
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