Eagles come up short but earn Fijian respect

The USA came up short against Fiji on Tokyo on Saturday but stout defense earned a respectable 22-3 result in the Pacific Nations Cup Semi Final. High humidity affected ball handling at times, while the Eagles scrum was under huge pressure for much of the game.

An early turnover by Fiji saw Ruben de Haas gaining ground with a raking kick. Soon after Nate Augspurger broke down the left side, leading to a three-pointer from Chris Mattina. The flyhalf combined with Augspurger and Tavite Lopeti on a line break but the final offload didn’t go to hand, and Mattina’s next shot at goal went begging.

When Fiji finally earned some sustained possession they pushed the Eagles back to their line, but Thomas Tu’avao managed to hold up a spinning Meli Derenalagi. Jack Iscaro went off for a head assessment and he was missed in the scrum as the Fijians drove the Eagles straight backwards, earning three points from the boot of Caleb Muntz.

Another huge scrum drive pinned the USA back in their end. Vili Helu managed to pinch a lineout but a thumping tackle from Muntz followed by a counter-ruck resulted in a try for Elia Canakaivata. Muntz tacked on the extra two and the 10-3 score held until the intermission.

A strong defensive play by Toby Fricker shut down a promising Fiji attack not long into the second half, but it was only a temporary reprieve. Vuate Karawalevu stepped out of a tackle and found Frank Lomani in support, The scrumhalf was met instantly by a US defender but managed to offload the ball to an open Canakaivata for his double.

Tevita Ikanivere found himself in trouble for a dangerous clearout and was dispatched to the sin bin. The Eagles couldn’t make the advantage count, however, and began to fall off tackles near the hour mark. A three-man overlap emerged on the right side and though Peni Ravai stumbled with the line at his mercy, the support was there and Lomani did the finishing to make it 22-3.

Replacements stepped in and though the Fijians were back at full strength, it was the Eagles who won a rare victory at the scrum. Kapeli Pifeleti barged around the short side after the resulting throw-in but the hooker was stopped just short of the line. Neither team would reach the scoreboard in the final moments of the match.

Both teams remain in Japan for next week’s PNC finale though their opponent won’t be known until tomorrow when the Brave Blossoms take on Manu Samoa. The winner of that match will face Fiji in Osaka, with the loser playing for third place against the Eagles.

 

SCORING

FIJI 22
Tries (3) – E. Canakaivata 2 (26′, 51′), F. Lomani (58′)
Cons (2) – C. Muntz 2/3 (27′, 52′)
Pens (1) – C. Muntz 1/1 (22′)
YC (1) – T. Ikanivere (55′)

USA 3
Pens (1) – C. Mattina 1/2 (4′)

TEAMS

FIJI
1 Eroni Mawi (17 Haereiti Hetet 55′), 2 Tevita Ikanivere (capt.) (16 Mesulame Dolokoto 65′), 3 Samu Tawake (18 Peni Ravai 55′-68′), 4 Isoa Nasilasila, 5 Temo Mayanavanua (19 Leone Ratuisolia 66′), 6 Meli Derenalagi, 7 Kitione Salawa, 8 Elia Canakaivata (16 Mesulame Dolokoto 56′-65′) (20 Albert Tuisue 65′), 9 Frank Lomani (21 Peni Matawalu 66′), 10 Caleb Muntz, 11 Epeli Momo (23 Ilaisa Droasese HT), 12 Inia Tabuavou, 13 Iosefo Masi, 14 Vuate Karawalevu, 15 Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula (22 Apisalome Vota 72′)

USA
1 Jack Iscaro (17 Jake Turnbull 19′-29′, 78′), 2 Sean McNulty (16 Kapeli Pifeleti 47′), 3 Paul Mullen (18 Pono Davis 34′), 4 Vili Helu (19 Greg Peterson HT), 5 Jason Damm, 6 Paddy Ryan, 7 Cory Daniel (20 Moni Tonga’uiha 66′), 8 Thomas Tu’avao, 9 Ruben de Haas (23 JP Smith 39′), 10 Chris Mattina, 11 Nate Augspurger (capt.) (21 Bryce Campbell 73′), 12 Tavite Lopeti, 13 Dom Besag, 14 Conner Mooneyham, 15 Toby Fricker (22 Rand Santos 72′)

MATCH INFO

Date: Saturday, September 14
Venue: Chichibunomiya Stadium, Tokyo
Kickoff: 19:05 local
Weather: partly cloudy, 82°F (28°C), humidex 91°F (33°C), wind S 21-32mph (34-51km/h)
Attendance: 3,681

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistants: Hollie Davidson (Scotland) & Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Tual Trainini (France)