Flying Fijians hit Tonga with three early tries and outlast spirited comeback
Lautoka has proven a tough venue to visit during the Fijian Drua’s 2023 season and the Fiji Test team did their best to continue forging that fortress with a 36-20 win over Ikale Tahi in the opening match of the 2023 Pacific Nations Cup.
A superb debut from Caleb Muntz set his spectacular outsides away for some classic Flying Fiji rugby en route to keeping their win streak alive against Tonga. It was fast and physical from the outset, the ball touching each team’s 22 in the opening minute with hard running and a typically free-flowing attack.
It was Fiji who made the first few breaks of the game and looked more disciplined in the early stages. Josua Tuisova won the collision battle in his first two hit-ups against his opposite number, former All Black Malakai Fekitoa.
The territory that Fiji’s backs won was then capitalised on by their forwards, who put down a strong lineout rolling maul which the Tongan team struggled to contain, ultimately slipping in their discipline and conceding a penalty try in addition to a yellow card to blindside flanker Tanginoa Halaifonua.
That was all it took for the Fijians to find their form, swift distribution from debutant fly-half Muntz put the dangerous midfield in motion. Captain Waisea Nayacalevu was in dangerous form, leading his side to their second try which was brilliantly celebrated by Selestino Ravutaumada who dived on the tryline in unison with his captain.
Before Tonga could catch their breath, the Fijians were back down their end of the field and threatening again. A strong contestable kicking game from Frank Lomani and ill-discipline from Tonga at the breakdown put the Fijians in another position to score, again off a driving maul. The converted try pushed the lead to 19-0 with just 12 minutes played.
The Fijians were wise and efficient with their work around the breakdown but let themselves down with a lack of execution around other set-piece areas. A dropped ball off the restart was followed by two failed attempts to contain Tonga’s rolling maul and ‘Ikale Tahi capitalised to get their first points on the board.
Fijian discipline slipped further after the Tonga try and ‘Ikale Tahi found their rhythm on attack, operating in well-formed pods that secured fast ball for Sonatane Takulua to play with. Physical hit-ups continued the momentum before Leva Fifita crashed over with an opportunistic pick and go from just a metre out.
A 12-19 score to Fiji after 20 minutes reflected the back-and-forth contest that had unfolded with plenty of action in the opening quarter. With these opening jitters now out of the way, the teams then wrestled for momentum and territory.
The breakdown dictated field position as both sides were guilty of illegal contests as well as successful attempts that stole possession. The result was a stalemate throughout the second quarter of the match before more dangerous running from Tuisova broke the Tongan defence after the half-time siren to put his team ahead 26-15 at the break.
With the sun now at their backs, Tonga went to the air in the second half and Fiji were blinded by the sun when trying to collect Takulua’s bombs. Charles Piutau sparked a scoring opportunity off the back of the territory that the kicking game had gained and Kyren Taumoefolau scored with his first touch of the ball.
The kicking led to more pressure soon after with Takulua deploying more variation to keep the Fijians pinned in their own 22. Quick thinking from Lomani relieved that pressure as the influential half-back stole the ball from a Tonga scrum and a monster kick brought play 90 metres upfield.
Semi Radradra was then injected into the game and he made his presence felt straight away. He took his place in the midfield and flew a ball out to Tuisova on the wing but it dropped at the utility back’s feet. Just minutes later a similar play saw Radradra execute the pass but stoic defence from Afusipa Taumoepeau saw the ball spilled.
Huge hits dominated the game in its final quarter and the ball was spilled numerous times under the Lautoka sun. Muntz extended the lead to 29-20 with ten minutes remaining and Fiji withstood each of Tonga’s final efforts to close in on that lead.
Radradra continued his late onslaught and Tuisova welcomed Patrick Pellegrini to international rugby with a crunching shoulder while in full flight down the wing. Peni Matawalu then had the final say in the match, crashing over the line after another strong Fijian driving maul.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments