23 Apr 2007

Pacific teams finish rugby World Cup divisions with mixed results in Northern Ireland

10:28 am on 23 April 2007

Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga have finished their World Cup championships in their respective divisions with a win, while debutantes Cook Islands failed to notch up any wins.

Fiji scored ten tries to beat Japan 60-12 to claim 11th spot, while Samoa beat Argentina 13-12 to claim seven spot.

Samoan captain, Alatasi Tupou, thanked everyone for their support.

"Boys played played hard last game, they have a good game thank you for Argentina good effort on behalf of coach and management I say thank you for the tournament our great people of the island thank you for the support."

In Division B, Tonga finished a credible fifth after beating Uruguay 24-15.

Coach Ellis Meachen says they're very pleased with the result.

We scored early and probably relaxed Uruguay played very well and they've obviously improved a lot in the tournament, and we were very pleased to come away with the win.

And while the debutantes Cook Islands finished without a win losing 29-10 to Chinese Taipei in their final match, coach Ioaba Ezekila believes the players did well.

The tournament was won by New Zealand beating South Africa 31-7 in the final.