{"id":35516,"date":"2018-06-16T17:15:28","date_gmt":"2018-06-16T05:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/?p=35516"},"modified":"2018-06-16T22:53:18","modified_gmt":"2018-06-16T10:53:18","slug":"stylish-fijians-retain-pacific-nations-cup-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/fiji\/2018\/06\/stylish-fijians-retain-pacific-nations-cup-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Stylish Fijians retain Pacific Nations Cup title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Follow @RedefinedRugby<\/a><\/p>\n

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Fiji win the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup 2018 after defeating Georgia in Saturday’s title decider at the ANZ Stadium in Suva, while Tonga take second place following victory over Samoa.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fiji wrapped up their fourth consecutive World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup title and their fifth in total after coming from behind to defeat Georgia 37-15 in the all-important match at the ANZ Stadium in Suva on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Having failed to pick up any bonus points from the game Georgia had to settle for a third-place finish with Tonga taking the runners-up spot thanks to their 28-18 win over Samoa.<\/span><\/p>\n

The top two nations will now play each other outside of the competition, at the same venue next Saturday, as the build-up to Rugby World Cup 2019 continues apace. Georgia, meanwhile, will get an early taste of Japan ahead of their participation at the first Rugby World Cup to be held in Asia with a test against the Brave Blossoms in Aichi.<\/span><\/p>\n

Samoa\u2019s immediate task is to confirm their place at Japan 2019 with home-and-away games against the European play-off winner \u2013 Germany or Portugal, on 30 June and 14 July, deciding which route they take. Win and the Islanders will go forward to Pool A as the Play-Off Winner, lose and they face a four-way battle to secure the final ticket at the global repechage tournament in November.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"http:\/\/www.worldrugby.org\/photos\/344846\"<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

FIJI 37-15 GEORGIA<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Scrum-half Henry Seniloli scored two first-half tries and his 64th-minute replacement Frank Lomani added a brace late on as Fiji overturned a five-point half-time deficit to beat RWC 2019 Pool D opponents Georgia 37-15 and successfully defend the Pacific Nations Cup.<\/span><\/p>\n

Playing at a\u00a0high tempo, Fiji looked a constant threat from the off and after falling behind to Soso Matiashvili\u2019s early penalty, Seniloli struck twice in the space of three minutes. For his first, the scrum-half pounced on the loose ball after it squirted out from a five-metre scrum following a superb shove from the Fijian pack, while the second came from good work by the backs, debutant Semi Radradra putting his team-mate away with an inside pass after the Lelos were left short of numbers in defence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Neither try was converted and Georgia started to work their way back into the contest as errors crept into Fiji’s play. On the stroke of half-time, the Lelos went in front after the forwards made good ground down the middle and Lasha Khmaladze threw a long miss-pass that bypassed Vereniki Goneva and found Alexander Todua unmarked wide on the left.<\/span><\/p>\n

Georgia could not sustain their effort after the break, however, and the second half firmly belonged to Fiji who entertained the crowd with their offloading game with the likes of Leone Nakarawa, Radradra and Goneva looking dangerous every time they touched the ball.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jale Vatubua started the run of 27 unanswered points in the 50th\u00a0minute when he ran a hard line and took a short pass from Seniloli after another sold scrum from the Fijian pack. Nemani Nadolo kicked the penalty and added a 55th-minute penalty to hand the reigning champions a 20-15 lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lomani got in on the act to score twice, the second coming in the 79th\u00a0minute, but there was still just enough time for Radradra to touch down in stoppage time from a few metres out and cap a fine test debut.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fiji captain Akapusi Qera said: “Georgia came out strong in the first half and we just want to thank the Lord Almighty for giving us the strength and the spirit of unity and love that we can fight again in the second half and manage to win the game. It was a tough game so hats off to the boys. That is the level we need to play every game but the Georgia team will be a different team when we play them again in 2019.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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with the big hits. Discipline-wise we let ourselves down near the end but we\u2019re happy with the win. There are a lot of improvements we can make but we are heading in the right direction.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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–
\n\"fb_follow\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"rhladrr\"<\/a><\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Follow @RedefinedRugby Fiji win the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup 2018 after defeating Georgia in Saturday’s title decider at the ANZ Stadium in Suva, while Tonga take second place following victory over Samoa. Fiji wrapped up their fourth consecutive World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup title and their fifth in total after coming from behind to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35521,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Result\/Report: Pacific Nations Cup\r\nFiji 37 - 15 Georgia\r\n\"Stylish Fijians retain Pacific Nations Cup title\"\r\n#FIJvGEO #PNC2018 #JUNETESTS\r\nhttps:\/\/wp.me\/p9yf19-9eQ\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/wp.me\/p9yf19-9eQ","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4788,4898,4934,4932,4882],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiji","category-georgia","category-june-tests","category-latest-news","category-world-rugby-pacific-nations-cup"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Zoomfiji_MG_9131.jpg?fit=964%2C643&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9yf19-9eQ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22679,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/uncategorized\/2015\/02\/pacific-nations-cup-2015-fixtures-announced\/","url_meta":{"origin":35516,"position":0},"title":"Pacific Nations Cup 2015 fixtures announced","author":"RugbyRedefined","date":"February 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Follow @RedefinedRugby Pacific Nations Cup 2015 fixtures announced ROUND 1 : SATURDAY 18 JULY\u00a0 FIJI v TONGA , ANZ STADIUM, SUVA , 3PM\u00a0 CANADA v JAPAN, AVAYA STADIUM, SAN JOSE, CA, KO TBC\u00a0 USA v SAMOA, AVAYA STADIUM, SAN JOSE, CA, KO TBC ROUND 2 : FRIDAY 24 JULY\u00a0 CANADA\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"BMO FIELD\"","block_context":{"text":"BMO FIELD","link":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/tag\/bmo-field\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/06\/05061207450dpacific-nations-cup-b1.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35319,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/tonga\/2018\/06\/preview-tonga-v-georgia-09-06-18\/","url_meta":{"origin":35516,"position":1},"title":"Preview: Tonga v Georgia (09-06-18)","author":"rr_admin","date":"June 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Follow @RedefinedRugby ANZ National Stadium, Suva Local time kick off 13:00 NZ Kick-Off - 13:00, Sat 09 Jun 2018 Referee: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand) Assistant referees: Graham Cooper (Australia), Cam Stone (New Zealand) Television match official: Ian Smith (Australia) TON (on 71.87 points) at a Neutral venue -vs- GEO (on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Georgia"","block_context":{"text":"Georgia","link":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/category\/rugby-europe\/georgia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/tvg9618.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/tvg9618.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/tvg9618.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/tvg9618.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/tvg9618.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35386,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/fiji\/2018\/06\/pnc-wrap-wins-for-georgia-and-fiji\/","url_meta":{"origin":35516,"position":2},"title":"PNC wrap: Wins for Georgia and Fiji","author":"rr_admin","date":"June 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Follow @RedefinedRugby Georgia and Fiji got their Pacific Nations Cup campaigns off to a winning start on Saturday as they saw off Tonga and Samoa respectively. The Lelos were narrow 16-15 winners over Tonga on their tournament bow as Soso Matiashvili scored all of their points, including a try. David\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fiji"","block_context":{"text":"Fiji","link":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/category\/fiji\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Fiji_duo_Ben_Volavola_and_Vereniki_Goneva.jpg.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Fiji_duo_Ben_Volavola_and_Vereniki_Goneva.jpg.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Fiji_duo_Ben_Volavola_and_Vereniki_Goneva.jpg.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Fiji_duo_Ben_Volavola_and_Vereniki_Goneva.jpg.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36624,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/international-rugby\/2019\/03\/fiji-warriors-call-on-u20-stars-for-pacific-challenge-title-defence\/","url_meta":{"origin":35516,"position":3},"title":"Fiji Warriors call on U20 stars for Pacific Challenge title defence","author":"rr_admin","date":"March 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Friday sees the start of the World Rugby Pacific Challenge 2019 with the best up-and-coming talent from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Japan showcasing their skills over the course of the next eight days (8-16 March) in the Fijian capital of Suva. 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Perhaps Georgia will be saving their best game for their last tour match as in Fiji they face the best team in the Pacific Islands. Fiji are on a fine\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"fiji1","src":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/01\/fiji1.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35522,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35516\/revisions\/35522"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}