PNC Notes & Squad Updates

The opening round of the Pacific Nations Cup left plenty to talk about. From the horrendous conditions at Apia Park, the wonderful new venue at Kamaishi, to the one-sided victory of the Eagles over Canada. There were new players to assess, a record-setting old-timer, and one particularly notable injury concern. As we slip into August the World Cup becomes ever closer and the tension rises for coaches, players, and fans alike. This weekend two matches will be played in Fiji with one in Japan.

 

LABUSCHAGNE / CIVETTA UPDATES

Lappies Labuschagne’s first cap for his adopted country came to an abrupt end late in the first half against Fiji. The South African flanker and captain for the day looked to have potentially done some damage to his knee in a tackle. Thankfully he was able to walk off the pitch unaided, though slightly gingerly. The good news is that the injury is not significant and while he may be rested this weekend for precaution, his World Cup is not in jeopardy.

In a decidedly less certain state is Eagles lock Nick Civetta. Nearing the end of a dominant performance in the lineout against Canada, Civetta landed awkwardly and suffered an ugly right ankle dislocation. Scans were completed on Monday and while details weren’t immediately available, he is now in recovery mode. With just under nine weeks between the injury and the opening game against England, Civetta faces a race against time to be fit for Japan.

Eagles midfielder Marcel Brache left the game at halftime after taking a head knock and did not return. He has made the trip to Fiji though he will be required to pass his return-to-play protocol before being considered for selection.

 

OLD MAN THOMPSON

Second row Luke Thompson set a unique record on the weekend. At 38 years and 102 days old, he became the oldest player ever to represent Japan in a test match, playing all 80 minutes against Fiji in the searing heat of Kamaishi. He beat the previous mark held by former teammate Hitoshi Ono, who’s 98th cap came in 2016 at 38 years and 50 days. The two were lock partners at the 2007, 2011, and 2015 World Cups, though Ono was largely a replacement in 2011.

Thompson has now won 64 caps since his debut in 2007. His international career looked to have ended after RWC 2015 but he received an emergency call to help out against Ireland in June 2017, and his experience is again being called upon by Jamie Joseph for what will be Thompson’s fourth World Cup.

 

FIRST TIMERS

An impressive 18 players made their test debuts over the weekend, a dozen of them in Apia. Samoa gave first caps to seven players. Afa Amosa (No8), UJ Seuteni (flyhalf), Belgium Tuatagaloa, and Johnny Vaili (both wings) all got the start. Coming off the bench were Alofa’aga Sao (tighthead prop), Senio Toleafoa (lock), and Alamanda Motuga (flanker). Tonga welcomed five new players. Sam Lousi (lock), James Faiva (flyhalf), and Mali Hingano (center) all started. Toma Taufa (loosehead prop) and Otumaka Mausia (center) come on as second half replacements.

With Fiji having awarded caps for the matches against the Māori there are no more uncapped players in the group. Japan had three newcomers. James Moore (lock) and Lappies Labuschagne (flanker) were in the run-on side, the latter having the rare distinction of captaining the team on debut. Yusuke Kizu (tighthead prop) came on in the second half.

The match at Infinity Park also saw three players putting a 1 in their cap column. Peter Nelson’s debut as a flyhalf would have been equal parts memorable and forgettable. Andrew Quattrin subbed in at hooker early in the second half. The USA welcomed Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz to their back row as a replacement, though it was interesting to see him line up at openside flanker rather than his preferred No8 spot.

 

COACH WIGGY?

Canada’s coaching staff has been something of a revolving door since Kieran Crowley’s departure in 2016. Kingsley Jones has most recently had Cardiff Blues Academy Manager Gruff Rees helping with the backs, while Leicester scrum guru Boris Stankovich recently joined to work with the forwards.

With Henry Paul away on sevens duty at the Pan Am Games, there was an interesting face spotted among the staff on Saturday. England and Saracens scrumhalf Richard Wigglesworth looks to be filling in at the moment. Having been left out of Eddie Jones’ World Cup training group, the 36-year-old is making a swift move into coaching. He was appointed attack coach for Ealing Trailfinders in April.

 

FIJI SET TO FIELD BIG GUNS

Canadian fans have every right to be concerned after their side was blown away by the Eagles in Colorado. The news from Fiji, unfortunately, is not good. John McKee is set to unleash a merciless mix of heavy artillery as six European backline stars – Niko Matawalu, Semi Radradra, Vereniki Goneva, Josua Tuisova, Eroni Sau, and Setareki Tuicuvu – have all been passed fit for duty and are taking part in full training this week. Likely to be injected in to the starting lineup is Clermont back row titan Peceli Yato, who terrorised Canada in their match against the French club last August and looked sharp coming off the bench in the second half against Japan.

 

TONGA / SAMOA ROSTER UPDATES

Those who missed the updated Tongan lineup (this writer included) released just hours before kickoff would have been very confused, especially as the mud made it increasingly difficult to figure out who was who. The reshuffle was forced by the late withdrawal of captain Nasi Manu, who has been forced to delay his return after suffering a strained pectoral muscle with injury. He’ll miss the PNC but is still hopeful of proving his fitness ahead of the World Cup. Daniel Faleafa has been called up to the squad as a replacement, his ability to cover lock and loose forward particularly useful with both Sam Lousi and Steve Mafi under injury clouds ahead of the match against Japan.

Also in question is Stade Français prop Siegfried Fisi’ihoi, though he is currently training with the squad. The team has received a boost with the arrivals of scrumhalf Tane Takulua, flyhalf Latiume Fosita, and center Siale Piutau. All three missed the Samoa match. Elvis Taione led the side after Manu dropped out but Piutau has been confirmed as the squad’s captain moving forward.

Samoa rolled out a couple surprise names in their 23 on the weekend. Back row forwards TJ Ioane and Alamanda Motuga were late unannounced call-ups to the squad. Ioane arrives from London Irish and was a notable absentee in the original training group named. He replaces Faifili Levave, who has opted out of the World Cup to sign for Clermont Auvergne.

Levave isn’t the only one to drop out. Experienced lock Joe Tekori caught headlines after declaring himself ‘retired‘ from international duty. He’ll instead be playing for Toulouse. Hisa Sasagi was part of the original PNC group but reportedly dropped out due to ‘injury’. That claim seems dubious as while the Manu were fronting up against the Ikale Tahi in Apia, Sasagi was packing down in the front row for Otago in their Ranfury Shield defense against North Otago in Oamaru. Uncapped loosehead prop Howard Sililoto was called up as a replacement though he did not make an appearance in the test.

Motuga has been a standout on the World Sevens circuit for the past four years now and captained Samoa this past season. This is Motuga’s first international foray in the XV-a-side game. He steps in to replace Tofatu Solia, one of his sevens teammates who seems to have been injured while playing in the Pacific Games.

First choice scrumhalf Melani Matavao is currently with the team but still recovering from his own injury.

 

IKALE TAHI VISIT MIZUNO

The Tongans had a slight disruption when they arrived in Fiji as the arrival of their baggage was delayed. Thankfully they had an off-day to start and took the time to visit sponsor Mizuno’s headquarters in Tokyo where they were fitted with new boots and running shoes. They also had some kit donated by Katagi Iron Works in Osaka. The team is now back in full training ahead of Saturday’s match against Japan.

 

QUOTABLES

Jamie Joseph – Japan Coach – Post Game – “I thought our players really guts’d it out for the full 80 minutes. We lost our captain early in the first half. It just shows how many leaders that we’ve been able to call upon in a tough game against Fiji. That was our first test match, we’ve got another two. We’ll enjoy that one. It was a very special match for us, we’ve been training for such a long time.”

John McKee – Fiji Coach – Post Game – “Credit to the Japanese team, they started the game very well. They were much too clinical for us in the opening half, it put us under a lot of pressure. After Japan scored those tries early and got a good lead early, it could have been a very difficult game for us. Credit to our players in the back end of the half, and particularly the second half. They showed a lot of fight to try and get back into the game.”

Kingsley Jones – Canada Coach – Post Game – “We need to get our lineout accuracy improved. We can’t build our launches, we can’t build our mauls, which have been effective for us in the past. We lost a lot of the kick battles today. We made unforced errors, unfortunately, but they kicked smarter than us. That’s really where the big deficit in the score comes from. If you counted the training hours together with the actual starting group, it’s been not too many days. I expected us to be a little untidy, a little bit messy, but I didn’t expect a scoreline like that.”

John McKee – Fiji Coach – Mid-Week Training – “It’s great to be back in Fiji. All the boys are really happy. Two weeks on the road always gets very tiring. We couldn’t travel with all our players, so it’s great to have the whole team training together again. It’s a combination of fixing up a few things but also I expect a few new plays and a few things to be added to our repertoire for this game.”