Fiji far too good for Canada in France

Fiji brought the very best of their fan-friendly style to France as they ran in nine tries in a 57-17 win over Canada in Narbonne on Saturday. The pace, power, and outrageous ball handling skills of the Fijians gave those in attendance a wonderful spectacle, albeit at the expense of hapless Canadian defenders.

The Flying Fijians lived up to their moniker, scoring with casual and frightening ease. A trademark offload from Leone Nakarawa, swarmed defenders, put Nemani Nadolo in space and the monstrous winger went for a jaunt down the sideline before dishing back inside to the man in support – tighthead prop Kali Tawake. To see such mobile and lavishly talented tight forwards on display was a sight to behold.

Canada did their best to respond and were rightly awarded a penalty try when Kini Murimurivalu deliberately slapped down a scoring pass, in doing so also earning an early 10 minute breather. Fiji, of course, didn’t even seem to notice that they were a man down, and duly notched a second try through hooker Tale Tuapati. As if to prove they weren’t all smiles and sequins the Fijian scrum drove their opposites backwards and when the Canadians folded sideways the referee went under the posts for a penalty try.

Switching gears back from brutal to sublime, it was Josua Tuisova’s turn to draw gasps as he broke the line and roped in in the Canadian defense only to pop the ball out the back of his hand to Levani Botia on his right shoulder. Rather than touch down himself the midfielder presented a gift for Frank Lomani, the youngster doing the honors for his first international points.

The Canadians ignored the scoreboard and looked to be working their way towards a second score when disaster struck. In-form midfielder Ciaran Hearn twisted his knee awkwardly in a tackle and went down in a heap, the referee stopping play with the London Irish man in obvious discomfort. No doubt affected by the loss of one of their key players, when play restarted the ball was turned over and Fiji instead went back on the rampage with Vereniki Goneva touching down to bring up halftime.

Despite conceding four more tries in the second stanza Canada showed small improvements. They were rewarded with a try to replacement prop Djustice Sears-Duru, who smashed over from close range. They were denied a third when a video review showed that Phil Mack had lots the ball forward just inches away from touching down.

That ends the November campaigns for both. Canada now have hard work ahead as they prepare for their World Cup Qualifying series with Uruguay at the end of January. Fiji kick their feet up and will have many months to wait until they return in the June internationals.

 

SCORING

FIJI 57
Tries – K. Tawake (6′), T. Tuapati (21′), Penalty try (27′), F. Lomani (32′), V. Goneva (40′), P. Yato (43′), L. Nakarawa (66′), L. Botia (72′), S. Kunatani (76′)
Cons – B. Volavola 5/8 (7′, 33′, 40′, 67′, 73′)
Yellow cards – K. Murimurivalu (14′), D. Waqaniburotu (60′)

CANADA 17
Tries – Penalty try (14′), D. Sears-Duru (63′)
Cons – B. Staller 1/1 (64′)
Pens – B. Staller 1/1 (30′)

 

TEAMS

FIJI
1 Campese Ma’afu (17 Joeli Veitayaki 60′), 2 Tale Tuapati (16 Ratunaisa Navuma 68′), 3 Kali Tawake (18 Ropate Rinakama 60′), 4 Peceli Yato, 5 Leone Nakarawa (19 Sikeli Nabou 68′), 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 7 Semu Kunatani, 8 Akapusi Qera (capt.) (20 Nemani Nagusa 58′), 9 Frank Lomani (21 Henry Seniloli 68′), 10 Ben Volavola, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 12 Levani Botia, 13 Vereniki Goneva (22 Asaeli Tikoirotuma 60′), 14 Josua Tuisova, 15 Kini Murimurivalu (23 Timoci Nagusa 51′)

CANADA
1 Hubert Buydens (17 Djustice Sears-Duru 23′-26′, 45′), 2 Benoît Pifféro (16 Ray Barkwill 45′), 3 Jake Ilnicki (18 Matt Tierney 45′), 4 Josh Larsen, 5 Evan Olmstead, 6 Kyle Baillie (19 Brett Beukeboom 68′), 7 Matt Heaton, 8 Kyle Gilmour (20 Lucas Rumball 64′), 9 Phil Mack (capt.) (20 Lucas Rumball 58′-64′), 10 Patrick Parfrey (21 Andrew Ferguson 51′), 11 Taylor Paris (23 Kainoa Lloyd 11′-19′), 12 Ciaran Hearn (22 Ben LeSage 39′), 13 DTH van der Merwe, 14 Brock Staller, 15 Andrew Coe (23 Kainoa Lloyd 35′)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistants: Shuhei Kubo (JRFU) & Vlad Iordachescu (FRR)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)