6 takeaways from round one of the Pacific Nations Cup

Five-time champions Fiji kicked off their Pacific Nations Cup 2024 campaign on Friday with a 42-16 win against Samoa, while Japan beat hosts Canada 55-28 in the second match on Sunday.

The scoring patterns of the matches were very different with Fiji having to come from 16-15 behind at half-time to get the victory, while Japan were 38-7 up at the break before ‘losing’ the second half as Canada gave the BC Place crowd something to cheer about with a stirring performance.

EDDIE’S UP AND RUNNING

Eddie Jones is finally off the mark at the fourth attempt in his second spell in charge of the Japan team, the win over Canada having followed home defeats to England, Georgia and Italy. The Brave Blossoms stayed true to their running rugby philosophy in the first half in Vancouver, racking up 38 points, at more than a point a minute, before allowing Canada to get on the scoreboard.

The first half was a perfect example of the ‘Chosoku Rugby’ (super-fast rugby) that Jones has talked about, with Japan consistently moving the point of attack at pace. Over the course of the entire game, they got the ball away from the ruck in three seconds or under 80 per cent of the time – an incredible rate by test standards. Canada fought back valiantly in the second half but the higher-ranked Japan had too big a points cushion for the result to ever be in any doubt.

STAR TURN DEARNS

Michael Leitch’s name may have been missing from the Japan team sheet but another naturalised New Zealand-born forward, who has also grown up in Japan since the age of 14, took it upon himself to steal the show in Vancouver with a fantastic display. Still only 22, giant second-row Warner Dearns stole lineout ball, made some huge hits and broke the line, and capped off his 80 minutes work with a couple of tries. On this form, you’d expect him to have an international career every bit as long as 35-year-old Leitch, Japan’s second most-capped player.

CANADA’S TWIN THREATS

Canada can take solace from the way they responded to being 38-7 down at half-time, and also from the performance of twin brothers, Talon and Takoda McMullin. Inside-centre Talon scored his first test try for Canada in the second half when he received a pass from Andrew Quattrin at pace and cut a great line to dodge the Japan defence.

Takoda came on for the final 20 minutes and like all good twins, he mirrored his brother’s achievement, albeit his first test try came about via a very different finish. Chasing a dinked kick into the in-goal area, the replacement winger did brilliantly to get to the ball first and apply enough downward pressure with one hand for the TMO to be satisfied he had grounded it properly.

CLINICAL FIJI

In game one, Samoa enjoyed a greater share of territory and possession than Fiji but they were very much second best when it came to converting chances. With virtually every other visit into the opposition 22, Fiji scored a try (six from 13) whereas Samoa only came away with one five-pointer on the seven occasions they were in the ‘red zone’, scoring an average of 3.23 points per visit.

Fiji were particularly ruthless when Samoa’s try scorer Pisi Leilua was sin-binned in the 53rd minute for pulling back a player without the ball. They scored 14 points through two converted tries during this period to take the game away from their Pacific rivals. Talk about a power play!

MONSTER MUNTZ!

In Caleb Muntz and Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula, the nephew of All Blacks star Richie Mo’unga, Fiji appear to be blessed to have two young fly-halves with years ahead of them. Muntz, who appeared in Fiji’s historic win over England last year, had nine months out through injury, but showed against Samoa that he deserves to be first pick.

A hurried missed conversion attempt aside, when the ball fell off the tee twice, leaving him precious little time under the 60-second trial, Muntz put in an assured display, and not just with ball in hand. Defensively, the 87kg playmaker punched well above his weight, making the most tackles of any player on the pitch and missing only two (16/18). His completion rate of 89 per cent was well above the team average.

WELCOME TO TEST RUGBY

Eleven players won their first caps off the weekend, either from the start or off the bench, and it’s fair to say that some of the debuts were more memorable than others. At one end of the spectrum you had Fiji full-back Vuate Karawalevu, who recovered from a couple of nervy moments early on to turn in a masterful display. Karawalevu returned endless long kicks with aplomb and also showed he had a decent punt on him when needing to put boot to ball.

For new Moane Pasifika signing, Tuna Tuitama, better times hopefully lay ahead. The right-winger barely got a pass in the 70 minutes he was on the field, and the 10 minutes he missed were down to a needless act of ill-discipline when he took his frustration out on Frank Lomani, and was sin-binned for a dump tackle on the Fijian scrum-half.

Round two of the Pacific Nations Cup 2024 gets underway on Friday, 30 August, when Samoa take on Tonga in Apia (17:00 local time), while USA join Tonga in making their first appearance of the tournament on Saturday, 31 August with a game against Canada in Los Angeles (18:00 local time).