Fiji captain reflects on semi-final win as another PNC Final beckons

Flying Fijians captain Tevita Ikanivere is thrilled to be moving on to the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup Final with a 45-29 win over Canada, but noted that type of performance may not be good enough next weekend in Tokyo.

Fiji took out the Pacific Nations Cup title when the tournament was last held in Japan two years ago, before backing that up at last year’s edition in Utah. The defending champions have now earned the chance to play for silverware once again, set to face Japan in the decider.

It was a dream start for the Flying Fijians against Canada, with Kitione Salawa charging down an attempted to clearance to score after just 21 seconds. Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula helped set the tone for the afternoon by slotting the tough conversion from the right sideline.

Ikanivere was one of the six try-scorers for Fiji, with Player of the Match Motikai Murray starring with a second-half double. But there are still things to work on, as the captain noted about 40 minutes after the full-time whistle.

“We’re thrilled we got the win, got back to our winning ways but there’s still a lot of things, opportunities we didn’t execute on today. Points were left out there. I don’t think it will be good enough come next week,” Ikanivere told RugbyPass.

“We need to be better at that. I think we need to be more physical at the beginning of the game to stop the opposition from having a crack.”

Fiji couldn’t have started the semi-final better thanks to some individual brilliance from Salawa, and it wasn’t long until Armstrong-Ravula was lining up another shot at the sticks, with Frank Lomani racing away for five points in the fourth minute.

It was one-way traffic early on, with the Flying Fijians dominating both the possession and territory battles at Osaka’s Hanazono Rugby Stadium. But Canada began to work their way back into the contest from there, leading to a crucial Mason Flesch try.

Takoda McMullin doinked a penalty attempt off the upright and in around the 26-minute mark, and a well-worked try to flanker Sion Parry made things very interesting late in the half. It had been a red-hot start for Fiji, but they ended up leading by just nine going into the break.

The Flying Fijians took some significant steps towards victory in the second half as they ran in 19 unanswered points, before the Canadians again clawed their way back. Two late tries for Canada made it a 16-point ballgame with 10 minutes left.

“Especially as a young team coming in [with] not too many experienced players, we talked about. That’s a big work-on, especially when you think it’s going to be too easy, especially if score two tries in four, five minutes,” Ikanivere reflected.

“We just made a mistake and didn’t work hard enough to solve – mistakes are bound to happen, but it’s how we bounce back.

“The first 20 minutes of the second half was good, we made mistakes and everybody solved it together, everybody made an effort. That’s how we’re supposed to start the game and be more ruthless and finish off games better.”

Fiji finished the match with more line breaks, turnovers won and post contact metres, but there were plenty of stats that favoured the Canadians too. Canada may have been outscored four tries to seven but finished the match with 62 per cent territory.

The Canadians had more than 55 per cent possession and conceded fewer turnovers. Canada captain Lucas Rumball also topped the charts for total carries, defenders beaten and tackles completed during an impressive 80-minute shift at No. 8.

“They did a great job around cleaning [at the breakdown], actually tackled the tacklers. Even myself I got a few tackles wrong because I tried to latch on and I got cleaned out early.

“We just need to be better individually. I think there’s work-ons and we’ll only grow from this and be better next week.”