‘Absolute priority’: Japan eye PNC glory in another final against Fiji

TOKYO: Assistant coach Neil Hatley sees winning the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2026 Final in Tokyo as an “absolute priority” for Japan, who will look to end Fiji’s reign as champions when the two teams meet in another decider on Saturday evening.

Fiji are chasing a third Pacific Nations Cup crown in a row, having claimed silverware when the finals were last held in Japan two years ago. They then repeated that success, taking out the title in Utah last year with a six-point win over Japan.

But Eddie Jones and the coaching staff have the Brave Blossoms playing a confident, fast and attacking style of play, as they look to snap a string of defeats in PNC finals. Japan will have the support of the home crowd in their corner too at Tokyo’s Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium.

Japan started their international season with a win against Six Nations side Italy, before taking on Ireland and France. Following two defeats to the Wallabies, the Brave Blossoms bounced back with a 45-point victory against Canada in the JRFU’s 100^th anniversary match.

The Brave Blossoms then punched their ticket to the PNC Final with a commanding 63-14 triumph over the USA Eagles in Osaka. They had led 28-0 after 16 minutes, leading Ben Gunter to tell RugbyPass post-game it was perhaps the “best start in Japanese history.”

“It means everything… for our part of the world, it’s a really big tournament,” Hatley told reporters ahead of the final.

“We’ve got Fiji ranked ninth, I think we’re 11^th, so it’s teams in around the top 10. It’s a really important tournament for us.

“We’ve given it absolute priority. As a team we want to win this tournament. We went very close last year in America… it’s a huge priority for us, for this young group, we want to win this tournament, especially here in Tokyo.”

Fiji are potentially 80 minutes away from more PNC history, as they look to build on a clinical 45-29 win against Canada last weekend in Osaka. Kitione Salawa scored after just 21 seconds, as the Flying Fijians got their title defence off to a dream start.

Interim coach Senirusi Seruvakula has brought fly-half Caleb Muntz into the run-on side this week, shifting Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula to fullback. “It’s very important,” as Seruvakula explained on Friday morning, with the dual playmakers set to combine in attack.

“The final here in Japan two years ago, we struggled. Last year, I thought we played really well. We went down 33-12 I think and then really fought our way back into the game – six points and finished applying a lot of pressure to Fiji,” Hatley said.

“We know an area that they’re very good at is the transition, turnover ball. We have to be very sharp tomorrow in terms of looking after the ball well because we want to play, and then when we do turn the ball over, or when they do get quick ball, we have to really defend well.

“They’re one of the best teams in the world in broken play.”