Fiji, Georgia on a winning start in PNC campaign

Samoa maintains possession during a ruck against the Fiji Airways Flying Fijians at the ANZ Stadium in Suva on Saturday. Picture: GEORGE TOGANIVALU/WANSOLWARA

The World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup 2018 kicked off at the ANZ Stadium in Suva over weekend with four national teams battling it out for top honours.

Home favourite Fiji Airways Flying Fijians faced stiff competition from Samoa, winning the match by a narrow margin, 24-22, with tries to overseas-based players Vereniki Goneva, Kini Murimurivalu and Henry Seniloli.  Flyhalf Ben Volavola added two successful conversions to the points tally.

The captains of Fiji, Georgia, Tonga and Samoa line up at the Royal Suva Yacht Club ahead of the Pacific Nations Cup 2018. From (L-R): Akapusi Qera, Giorgi Nemsadze, Siale Piutau and Chris Vui. Picture: Bruce Southwick/Zoomfiji/worldrugby.org

A determined Samoan side kept the Fijians on their toes in the second half but that wasn’t enough to secure a victory. The Manu Samoa team recorded tries from scrumhalf Melani Matavao, flanker Jack Lam and Dwayne Polataivao.

Meanwhile, Georgia overcame a tough tussle against Tonga winning the game 16-15 thanks to fullback Ioseb Matiashvili, who converted his own try in the sixth minute and kicked three penalties.

In the second half, two players from Georgia copped yellow cards, allowing the ‘Ikale Tahi team to bounce back with a tries to Viliami Lolohea and David Halaifonua.

Tongan flyhalf Kurt Morath added points from a conversion while scrumhalf Sonatane Takulua added a penalty to close the gap to one point.

World Rugby says the tournament provides important high-performance preparation for teams ahead of Rugby World Cup 2019.

Georgia joined Fiji, Samoa and Tonga in the World-Rugby funded competition, which was played in the revised format compared with previous editions.

“The winner will be determined as the team to have scored the most competition points over the two fixtures that they play,” according to worldrugby.org.

Tonga will face Samoa this weekend while Fiji will take on Georgia.

According to worldrugby.org, the fixtures form part of a wider package of World Rugby-supported fixtures involving emerging and high performance tier two rugby nations during the June window.

Report by WANSOLWARA STAFF

Fiji Airways Flying Fijians sing the national anthem with pride before facing the Samoan team in Suva over the weekend. Picture: GEORGE TOGANIVALU/WANSOLWARA

Fiji Airways Flying Fijians flyhalf Ben Volavola makes a break through the Samoan defence. Picture: GEORGE TOGANIVALU/WANSOLWARA

Top prize … the coveted PNC trophy. Picture: GEORGE TOGANIVALU/WANSOLWARA

Ready for a tough encounter … The Manu Samoa team lost by a narrow margin to the Fiji Airways Flying Fijians team. Picture: GEORGE TOGANIVALU/WANSOLWARA

Tussle for possession in the line-out. Picture: GEORGE TOGANIVALU/WANSOLWARA