A roundup of the weekend's action from the first week of June, which saw Fiji record their first win over a Tier 1 side for 7 years and Japan record an incredible comeback against Canada.
Samoa (5) 18
Tonga (12) 18
In their first home game for 2 years Samoa got off a sluggish start to their June series being held to a draw by Tonga, who came into the game 14 point underdogs. It was the Tongans who started the brighter and despite an easy penalty miss from Latiume Fosita, Otulea Katoa went in at the corner soon after.
The game was a tight, ding dong affair and apart from the early stages where Tonga started well neither side really stamped their authority on the game. It was one try a piece after Fautua Otto scored a try through dummying past two lines of defence and it looked set to go into half time that way until a clearance kick from Jeremy Su'a went wrong as he slipped and the ball fell into the path of Josh Afu to score.
In the second half Samoa took the lead for the first time after spreading it wide after a period of pressure to give captain David Lemi a run in and put them in a good position to sneak a win. Tonga struck back though with a run by Fetu'u Vainikolo leading to a yellow card for Cencus Johnston, and despite taking the lead again through a penalty created by Filo Paulo jackalling at a ruck, it was cancelled out by some rather unclever play. First Samoa try to run it out their own 22 in the closing minutes and ran into touch, then replacement Daniel Leo conceded a penalty for pulling down at the lineout to draw the game.
Tonga definitely left the happier of the two sides, but expect an improved Samoan performance next week against Italy as they have got rid of some rust and hopefully are fully motivated to take a 6 Nations scalp to atone for the robbery they had at the hands of the touchjudge last time a European side visited Apia.
The game was a tight, ding dong affair and apart from the early stages where Tonga started well neither side really stamped their authority on the game. It was one try a piece after Fautua Otto scored a try through dummying past two lines of defence and it looked set to go into half time that way until a clearance kick from Jeremy Su'a went wrong as he slipped and the ball fell into the path of Josh Afu to score.
In the second half Samoa took the lead for the first time after spreading it wide after a period of pressure to give captain David Lemi a run in and put them in a good position to sneak a win. Tonga struck back though with a run by Fetu'u Vainikolo leading to a yellow card for Cencus Johnston, and despite taking the lead again through a penalty created by Filo Paulo jackalling at a ruck, it was cancelled out by some rather unclever play. First Samoa try to run it out their own 22 in the closing minutes and ran into touch, then replacement Daniel Leo conceded a penalty for pulling down at the lineout to draw the game.
Tonga definitely left the happier of the two sides, but expect an improved Samoan performance next week against Italy as they have got rid of some rust and hopefully are fully motivated to take a 6 Nations scalp to atone for the robbery they had at the hands of the touchjudge last time a European side visited Apia.
Samoa: 15 F Autagavaia; 14 F Otto (G Pisi 54), 13 A Leiua, 12 J Leota (A Tuilagi 79), 11 D Lemi (c, G Pisi 32-35); 10 T Pisi, 9 J Su'a (K Fotuali'i 45); 1 S Taulafo (A Perenise 54), 2 O Avei (T Paulo 67), 3 L Mulipola (C Johnston 67); 4 K Thompson (L Mulipola 74-78, A Tuilagi 79), 5 F Paulo; 6 F Levave (D Leo 50), 7 J Lam, 8 T Tuifu'a (O Treviranus 45).
Tries (2): Otto (31), Lemi (66) Conversion (1): T Pisi (67) Penalties (2): T Pisi (58, 75) Sin Bin: C Johnston (69)
Tonga: 15 T Halaifonua; 14 O Katoa (F Vainikolo 50), 13 S Piutau, 12 F Anderson, 11 A Taufa; 10 L Fosita (F Apikotoa 70), 9 S Fisilau (S Takalua 48); 1 T Mailau (K Sakalia 76), 2 S Taufalele (P Ngauamo 76), 3 S Puafisi (E Aholelei 49); 4 J Afu, 5 L Fa'aoso (D Faleafa 50); 6 P Mapakaitolo (V Fihaki 61), 7 N Latu (c), 8 V Ma'afu.
Tries (2): Katoa (22), Afu (39) Conversion (1): Fosita (23) Penalties (2): Fosita (70), Apikotoa (78) Sin Bins: Taufa (79)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England) | Venue: Apia Park | Attendance: 14,500
Tries (2): Otto (31), Lemi (66) Conversion (1): T Pisi (67) Penalties (2): T Pisi (58, 75) Sin Bin: C Johnston (69)
Tonga: 15 T Halaifonua; 14 O Katoa (F Vainikolo 50), 13 S Piutau, 12 F Anderson, 11 A Taufa; 10 L Fosita (F Apikotoa 70), 9 S Fisilau (S Takalua 48); 1 T Mailau (K Sakalia 76), 2 S Taufalele (P Ngauamo 76), 3 S Puafisi (E Aholelei 49); 4 J Afu, 5 L Fa'aoso (D Faleafa 50); 6 P Mapakaitolo (V Fihaki 61), 7 N Latu (c), 8 V Ma'afu.
Tries (2): Katoa (22), Afu (39) Conversion (1): Fosita (23) Penalties (2): Fosita (70), Apikotoa (78) Sin Bins: Taufa (79)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England) | Venue: Apia Park | Attendance: 14,500
Fiji (5) 25
Italy (7) 14
After a barren few years Fiji had an upturn in fortunes in 2013 and were unfortunate last November not to get their first triumph over a Tier 1 side since the 2007 World Cup, when they received a record haul of sin bins in a narrow loss away to Italy. Now on home turf and their opponents on a run of 6 straight defeats they were favourites bookies, and in the end they pulled away in the final 20 minutes to secure the win.
Despite the win by a reasonably and by a reasonably comfortable margin, it was not the greatest game Fiji have played. They started off a bit cautiously and a frustrating amount of handling errors slowed the game down which played into Italy's favour. The slower game was a large part of the reason as to why the Azzurri managed to hold a lead for 60 minutes, if Fiji tidied up their basics a bit we all know they have the firepower out wide to finish clinically and they could have had a really convincing win.
Fiji always looked the more comfortable of the two sides with ball in hand, and it was only a matter of time before they showed how lethal they can be off turnover ball against disorganised defences lacking structure and tiring in the foreign humidity. Dominiko Waqaniburotu's try, that was started from a turnover in their own 22 from Nemani Nadolo, was an example of this.
Whilst Fiji may have made several handling errors, their efforts running with the ball were still infinitely superior to the Italians who looked to go wide a surprising amount when they had the ball, albeit normally ending up in touch. They scarcely looked threatening all match in open play.
As was expected though, the Italian scrum certainly was threatening. Italy have had a few escapes against PNC sides of late through their scrum in recent times, with it being dominant against Japan in 2011, Canada and Tonga 2012 and Fiji last November in 2013, all of which it contributed heavily to the victory. It was again completely dominant in this game, getting them two penalty tries (their 5th scrum penalty try in their last 4 games against Pacific Islanders) as well as territory and disrupting opposition possession.
The set piece couldn't have gone better but it wasn't enough to win the match simply on it's own, despite a great effort in doing so. Italy hardly looked like getting a point outside of the scrum, if we were playing Rugby League scrums they may very well have been nilled. After just 1 win in their last 12 games, coach Jacques Brunel and his team will need to improve on this or the tour could end up being a disaster with them occupying their all time lowest IRB ranking position.
As for Fiji, they too need to improve on this. Better teams will be able to keep the ball better and not run into touch and get stripped of the ball in ill fated attempts at spreading the ball wide against them. Fiji's November opponents France and Wales will also be licking their lips at the prospect of scrummaging against them as well. It's a nice start for new coach John McKee to have though, and with two more home matches they have a good chance to build up a building string of wins and equalling their record for most wins in a row.
Despite the win by a reasonably and by a reasonably comfortable margin, it was not the greatest game Fiji have played. They started off a bit cautiously and a frustrating amount of handling errors slowed the game down which played into Italy's favour. The slower game was a large part of the reason as to why the Azzurri managed to hold a lead for 60 minutes, if Fiji tidied up their basics a bit we all know they have the firepower out wide to finish clinically and they could have had a really convincing win.
Fiji always looked the more comfortable of the two sides with ball in hand, and it was only a matter of time before they showed how lethal they can be off turnover ball against disorganised defences lacking structure and tiring in the foreign humidity. Dominiko Waqaniburotu's try, that was started from a turnover in their own 22 from Nemani Nadolo, was an example of this.
Whilst Fiji may have made several handling errors, their efforts running with the ball were still infinitely superior to the Italians who looked to go wide a surprising amount when they had the ball, albeit normally ending up in touch. They scarcely looked threatening all match in open play.
As was expected though, the Italian scrum certainly was threatening. Italy have had a few escapes against PNC sides of late through their scrum in recent times, with it being dominant against Japan in 2011, Canada and Tonga 2012 and Fiji last November in 2013, all of which it contributed heavily to the victory. It was again completely dominant in this game, getting them two penalty tries (their 5th scrum penalty try in their last 4 games against Pacific Islanders) as well as territory and disrupting opposition possession.
The set piece couldn't have gone better but it wasn't enough to win the match simply on it's own, despite a great effort in doing so. Italy hardly looked like getting a point outside of the scrum, if we were playing Rugby League scrums they may very well have been nilled. After just 1 win in their last 12 games, coach Jacques Brunel and his team will need to improve on this or the tour could end up being a disaster with them occupying their all time lowest IRB ranking position.
As for Fiji, they too need to improve on this. Better teams will be able to keep the ball better and not run into touch and get stripped of the ball in ill fated attempts at spreading the ball wide against them. Fiji's November opponents France and Wales will also be licking their lips at the prospect of scrummaging against them as well. It's a nice start for new coach John McKee to have though, and with two more home matches they have a good chance to build up a building string of wins and equalling their record for most wins in a row.
Fiji: 15 M Talebula (W Votu 77); 14 N Nalaga, 13 A Tikoirotuma, 12 N Nadolo (W Votu 44-50), 11 T Nagusa (A Delai 70); 10 J Ralulu, 9 N Kenatale (N Matawalu 40); 1 C Ma'afu (J Yanuyanutawa 47), 2 T Talemaitoga (S Koto 40), 3 M Saulo (I Colati 40); 4 A Ratuniyarawa, 5 A Naikatini (W Lewaravu 63); 6 D Waqaniburotu, 7 A Qera, 8 N Nagusa (M Ravulo 76).
Try (1): Nadolo (19), Waqaniburotu (60), Nalaga (78) Conversion (2): Ralulu (61), Nadolo (79) Penalties (2): Nadolo (66, 71)
Italy: 15 L McLean; 14 L Sarto (A Masi 67), 13 M Campagnaro, 12 A Sgarbi, 11 G Venditti; 10 L Orquera, 9 G Palazzani; 1 M Agüero (An de Marchi, 2 L Ghiraldini (D Giazzon 53), 3 L Cittadini (Al de Marchi 53); 4 Q Geldenhuys (c), 5 M Bortolami (G Biagi 61); 6 J Furno, 7 M Bergamasco, 8 M Vosawai (P Derbyshire 66).
Tries (2): Penalty Try (10, 76) Conversions (2): Orquera (10, 77)
Referee: JP Doyle (England) | Venue: ANZ Stadium, Suva | Attendance: 12,000
USA (3) 6
Scotland (17) 24
Scotland came into this game off the back of a poor 6 Nations, and their opponents came into the game with a massively underwhelming 2 leg series win over Uruguay, a series they were losing 140 minutes in and had one of their worst games in recent years in the first leg. An upset was never likely here given the USA's recent form, however last year they raised their game when there were big crowds and that was the only really thing that kept the result in a tiny bit of doubt beforehand.
Soon into the game though, it was clear we were not going to have a repeat of the close effort we had against Ireland last year as the utterly disastrous scrum picked up where it left off against Uruguay, conceding penalty after penalty which helped the Scots to 10 of their 17 first half points.
Considering Scotland handed out two debuts to new props in this game, you dread to think of what damage a genuinely world class scrum may to do the USA. The Eagles scrum has got worse if anything under the new engagements, and the World Cup is in danger of being a write off unless it improves.
The other 7 points of the first half came from a bizarre piece of play by under pressure scrum half Mike Petri. The ex Sale and Dragons player jogged out of his defensive position with nobody else there to cover it, his opposite number Greig Laidlaw duly ran through the open door untouched and put in Tim Visser for the try.
To the USA's credit, they were not lacking for effort. They battled valiantly throughout the second half, but were blunt offensively. We've seen the USA in their opponents 22 repeatedly trying to punch their way over the line and failing time and time again. Notably against Tonga in 2012, Maori All Blacks in 2013 and even Uruguay earlier this year. The lack of Samu Manoa and Andrew Suniula didn't help, but this recurring theme is a concern. USA aren't a free scoring try getting team like Fiji, nor do they have a solid set piece and platform to generate penalties.
Despite promising games here and there, the side has just regressed back to the Eddie O'Sullivan era, with about the only thing going for them right now a physical defence and having a world class player in Samu Manoa at their disposal. However you can tell of the progress in ambitions by the fact many USA fans left the game disappointed at the result and performance are not satisfied with just brave containing efforts, but want to see the side play to it's potential, which this squad has more of than previous ones.
For all the effort the Eagles put in during the second half, they got very little out of it and then saw Stuart Hogg finish a demoralising counter attack score from an all or nothing cross kick which ended any faint hopes of a comeback as the game closed out in a scrappy affair. The USA will now be odds on to go another June winless, perhaps the underdogs tag will spur them on to an improved performance next week at home to Japan in California.
Soon into the game though, it was clear we were not going to have a repeat of the close effort we had against Ireland last year as the utterly disastrous scrum picked up where it left off against Uruguay, conceding penalty after penalty which helped the Scots to 10 of their 17 first half points.
Considering Scotland handed out two debuts to new props in this game, you dread to think of what damage a genuinely world class scrum may to do the USA. The Eagles scrum has got worse if anything under the new engagements, and the World Cup is in danger of being a write off unless it improves.
The other 7 points of the first half came from a bizarre piece of play by under pressure scrum half Mike Petri. The ex Sale and Dragons player jogged out of his defensive position with nobody else there to cover it, his opposite number Greig Laidlaw duly ran through the open door untouched and put in Tim Visser for the try.
To the USA's credit, they were not lacking for effort. They battled valiantly throughout the second half, but were blunt offensively. We've seen the USA in their opponents 22 repeatedly trying to punch their way over the line and failing time and time again. Notably against Tonga in 2012, Maori All Blacks in 2013 and even Uruguay earlier this year. The lack of Samu Manoa and Andrew Suniula didn't help, but this recurring theme is a concern. USA aren't a free scoring try getting team like Fiji, nor do they have a solid set piece and platform to generate penalties.
Despite promising games here and there, the side has just regressed back to the Eddie O'Sullivan era, with about the only thing going for them right now a physical defence and having a world class player in Samu Manoa at their disposal. However you can tell of the progress in ambitions by the fact many USA fans left the game disappointed at the result and performance are not satisfied with just brave containing efforts, but want to see the side play to it's potential, which this squad has more of than previous ones.
For all the effort the Eagles put in during the second half, they got very little out of it and then saw Stuart Hogg finish a demoralising counter attack score from an all or nothing cross kick which ended any faint hopes of a comeback as the game closed out in a scrappy affair. The USA will now be odds on to go another June winless, perhaps the underdogs tag will spur them on to an improved performance next week at home to Japan in California.
USA: 15 C Wyles; 14 B Scully, 13 S Kelly, 12 A Suniula (F Niua 19), 11 L Hume; 10 S Suniula, 9 M Petri (T Maupin 70); 1 O Kilifi (T Lamositele 52), 2 P Thiel (T Coolican 18), 3 E Fry (N Wallace 40); 4 L Stanfill (T Tuisamoa 63), 5 H Smith (N Wallace 29-39, D Barrett 53); 6 T Clever (c, C London 77-79), 7 S LaValla, 8 C Dolan.
Penalties (2): Wyles (11, 51) Sin Bin: Kilifi (29)
Scotland: 15 S Hogg (R Jackson 74); 14 S Maitland, 13 S Lamont, 12 D Taylor (M Evans 62), 11 T Visser; 10 F Russell, 9 G Laidlaw (c); 1 G Reid (A Allan 55), 2 S Lawson (P MacArthur 62), 3 G Cross (M Low 44); 4 R Gray, 5 J Hamilton (G Gilchrist 37); 6 A Strokosch (K Low 62), 7 B Cowan, 8 J Beattie.
Tries (3): Visser (15), Penalty Try (30), Hogg (66) Conversions (3): Laidlaw (16, 31, 67) Penalty (1): Laidlaw (6)
Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (France) | Venue: BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston | Attendance: 20,001
Penalties (2): Wyles (11, 51) Sin Bin: Kilifi (29)
Scotland: 15 S Hogg (R Jackson 74); 14 S Maitland, 13 S Lamont, 12 D Taylor (M Evans 62), 11 T Visser; 10 F Russell, 9 G Laidlaw (c); 1 G Reid (A Allan 55), 2 S Lawson (P MacArthur 62), 3 G Cross (M Low 44); 4 R Gray, 5 J Hamilton (G Gilchrist 37); 6 A Strokosch (K Low 62), 7 B Cowan, 8 J Beattie.
Tries (3): Visser (15), Penalty Try (30), Hogg (66) Conversions (3): Laidlaw (16, 31, 67) Penalty (1): Laidlaw (6)
Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (France) | Venue: BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston | Attendance: 20,001
Canada (25) 25
Japan (9) 34
The game of the weekend happened was in Burnaby. The home side Canada flew out of the blocks with a try in the left corner after Akihito Yamada tried to run the ball out from his own line, but the first 25 minutes or so was a nip and tuck affair and as close a match as you would expect between two very similarly ranked sides.
However Canada were the better side for most of the first half and Japan were giving away a dozen penalties. When hooker Shota Horie received a team yellow card for repeated infringements, they really made the dominance count. The score of 8-9 became 25-9 within the sin bin period, first John Moonlight finishing off from close range after a period of pressure and then wing Taylor Paris showing his great pace to finish a nice team try right from the restart after Ciaran Hearn ran through what must be said was a passive first line of defence.
From here the result looked pretty much done and dusted, only 7 times in rugby history has a team comeback from a 16 point half time deficit to win.
However the second half saw a complete turnaround. Japan started off immediately with Harumichi Tatekawa breaking through for Yoshikazu Fujita to finish superbly in the corner. It was the 20 year old's 22nd try of his international career, although it may be his last for a while as he seriously injured shoulder in the process and will be out for 6 weeks.
Gradually, the Cherry Blossoms momentum continued to grow and their scrum took complete control and was helping them win the territory battle. The ease of which Yu Tamura ran through the defence untouched was surprising though, it seemed to be some defensive miscommunication and wrong positioning as opposed to missed tackles, same for the first try as well.
When just one point down, Japan really started to put some pressure on with Canada helping their cause with some unforced errors. The third try came from another defensive mistake in midfield with Hendrik Tui running through some slack tackles and going in under the posts. Canada rallied but Japan were never going to let the game slip from there and held on with Ayumu Goromaru slotting a penalty in the last play as an extra bonus.
In total, Eddie Jones' side scored 25 unanswered points in the second half to secure their biggest comeback win of all time and one of the best in international rugby history. To have achieved that should give this group of players some good confidence and belief, and puts them in a good position to travel to the USA and head into their big game against Italy with 9 straight wins. This was a big win for Japan, probably the best under Eddie Jones' reign.
There were positives to take out of the game for Canada, but to lose in this fashion will really hurt, it remains to be seen whether such a loss will effect them mentally in next week's big game against Scotland. Their scrum remains a concern and the defence in midfield was inexplicable in the second half, which was unusual for what is normally a resilient defending side.
However Canada were the better side for most of the first half and Japan were giving away a dozen penalties. When hooker Shota Horie received a team yellow card for repeated infringements, they really made the dominance count. The score of 8-9 became 25-9 within the sin bin period, first John Moonlight finishing off from close range after a period of pressure and then wing Taylor Paris showing his great pace to finish a nice team try right from the restart after Ciaran Hearn ran through what must be said was a passive first line of defence.
From here the result looked pretty much done and dusted, only 7 times in rugby history has a team comeback from a 16 point half time deficit to win.
However the second half saw a complete turnaround. Japan started off immediately with Harumichi Tatekawa breaking through for Yoshikazu Fujita to finish superbly in the corner. It was the 20 year old's 22nd try of his international career, although it may be his last for a while as he seriously injured shoulder in the process and will be out for 6 weeks.
Gradually, the Cherry Blossoms momentum continued to grow and their scrum took complete control and was helping them win the territory battle. The ease of which Yu Tamura ran through the defence untouched was surprising though, it seemed to be some defensive miscommunication and wrong positioning as opposed to missed tackles, same for the first try as well.
When just one point down, Japan really started to put some pressure on with Canada helping their cause with some unforced errors. The third try came from another defensive mistake in midfield with Hendrik Tui running through some slack tackles and going in under the posts. Canada rallied but Japan were never going to let the game slip from there and held on with Ayumu Goromaru slotting a penalty in the last play as an extra bonus.
In total, Eddie Jones' side scored 25 unanswered points in the second half to secure their biggest comeback win of all time and one of the best in international rugby history. To have achieved that should give this group of players some good confidence and belief, and puts them in a good position to travel to the USA and head into their big game against Italy with 9 straight wins. This was a big win for Japan, probably the best under Eddie Jones' reign.
There were positives to take out of the game for Canada, but to lose in this fashion will really hurt, it remains to be seen whether such a loss will effect them mentally in next week's big game against Scotland. Their scrum remains a concern and the defence in midfield was inexplicable in the second half, which was unusual for what is normally a resilient defending side.
Canada: 15 J Pritchard; 14 J Hassler, 13 C Hearn (DTH van der Merwe 68), 12 N Blevins, 11 T Paris; 10 H Jones (C Braid 73), 9 G McRorie (P Mack 56); 1 H Buydens (A Tiedemann 56), 2 R Barkwill (B Piffero 75), 3 J Marshall (J Ilnicki 59); 4 T Hotson (J Phelan 75), 5 J Cudmore; 6 A Kleeberger (A Carpenter 51), 7 J Moonlight, 8 T Ardron (c).
Tries (3): Hearn (7), Moonlight (35), Paris (38) Conversions (2): Pritchard (37, 39) Penalties (2): Pritchard (18, 32)
Japan: 15 A Goromaru; 14 Y Fujita (T Hirose 43), 13 M Sa'u, 12 Y Tamura, 11 A Yamada; 10 H Tatekawa, 9 F Tanaka; 1 M Mikami (H Hirashima 53-63, 74), 2 S Horie, 3 K Hatakeyama (H Yamashita 72); 4 H Ono (S Ito 51), 5 L Thompson; 6 J Ives (H Tui 9-13), 7 M Leitch (c, S Makabe 80), 8 R Holani (T Kizu 35-40, H Tui 61).
Tries (3): Fujita (42), Tamura (63), Tui (72) Conversions (2): Goromaru (64, 73) Penalties (5): Goromaru (13, 15, 28, 56, 80) Sin Bin: Horie (29)
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