Moana Pasifika's Lotu Inisi scores a try. Photo: Copyright © Photosport Ltd 2024 www.photosport.nz
Moana claims one over Drua
It was Moana Pasifika's turn to celebrate against the Fijian Drua in Melbourne on Saturday night, as they claimed their first victory over the Nadi based franchise in the second round of the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific competition.
The Super Round clash saw Moana Pasifika held on with 13 players to beat the Fijian Drua 39-36.
It was sweet revenge for the Siona Havili Talatui-led side who had lost all four previous encounters since 2022.
Moana Pasifika were reduced to 13 men on the field after winger Nigel Ah Wong was red carded for a no-arms tackle and Sekope Kepu yellow carded for a professional foul 10 minutes before the end of the game.
The side led 39-22 as Fijian Drua fought back with two late tries through Epeli Momo seven minutes from fulltime and Junior Ratuva, cutting the deficit to three points.
Drua centre Iosefo Masi then lost a golden opportunity to set up what could have been the winning try when he took the tackle with the ball instead of passing inside to a free to run Selestino Ravutaumada.
Fiji rugby
Suva, Nadroga and Naitasiri won their second round of matches in the Fiji Rugby Union Skipper' Cup competition on Saturday.
The competition round also saw women and Under-20 matches played around Fiji.
Results from the weekend - Skipper Cup - Seniors: Suva 28 Lautoka 21, Macuata 17 Nadi 13, Naitasiri 25 Tailevu 19, Nadroga 41 Nadi 24, Ba 38 Yasawa 28;Under-20s - Nadroga 28 Namosi 10, Naitasiri 13 Tailevu 10, Nadi 18 Macuata 15, Ba 51 Yasawa 14, Suva 30 Lautoka 11; Women - Marama Cup Senior: Namosi 58 Nadroga 10, Suva 36 Lautoka 7, Nadi 37 Nasinu 22, Naitasiri 37 Tailevu 15; Marama Cup - Under 20s: Namosi 60 Nadroga 15, Suva 66 Lautoka 12, Nadi 79 Nasinu 0, Naitasiri 26 Tailevu 15.
Fiji soccer
Suva football president Imtiaz Khan took to coaching the capital city side at the weekend's Fiji Football Association Premier League after the team's coach took leave.
Khan saw Suva through to a 1-1 draw against Labasa.
Other results: Nadroga beat Lautoka 4-3, Nadi defeated Navua 2-1, Nasinu lost 2-0 to Ba and Rewa thrashed Tailevu Naitasiri 5-1.
Oceania under-20s rugby
Lakapi Samoa's Under 20 team will compete in the World Rugby U20 Trophy for the fifth time in Scotland later this year after beating Tonga 40-14 in their one-off qualification match at the Oceania Rugby U20 Challenger in North Harbour, New Zealand.
World Rugby says the two-time winners of the Under 20 Trophy (2011 and 2016) will have an opportunity to claim a third title in Edinburgh in July.
Five teams had already booked their place at the tournament prior to this weekend, including hosts Scotland, Japan - the team relegated from the World Rugby U20 Championship 2023 - and regional qualifiers Uruguay (South America), the Netherlands (Europe) and Hong Kong China (Asia).
Samoa's qualification completes the Pool A line-up and they can now look forward to games against Scotland and the two Asian qualifiers in Japan and Hong Kong China.
"It was a pretty tough game against Tonga. It was our last chance to get a spot in Scotland. It really means a lot to the boys," Samoa's Ravuama Seruvakula said.
"Our mindset was to get the line speed up and to pressure the Tongan team. The Tongan team is a very good team."
Meanwhile, Fiji remains unbeaten in the competition after their 48-19 win over Moana Pasifika Under-20s on Saturday.
World Rugby says Fiji, who beat Tonga 39-25 in round one, surged into a 38-0 half-time lead, before Moana Pasifika fought back to 'win' the second half.
"We achieved our goal; we achieved our target. Hats off to Moana Pasifika they definitely gave us a good battle out there," Fiji captain Nalani May said.
"I reckon they gave us a bit of a scare in the second half, but we definitely recovered better."
Fiji will be competing in the top-level World Rugby U20 Championship in South Africa in June/July.
Fiji are the only team to have won both of their opening games as Samoa fell to a 27-20 defeat to Moana Pasifika in round one.
The final round of the Oceania Rugby U20 Challenger 2024 takes place on Wednesday, March 6 with Tonga up against Moana Pasifika in the first game and unbetaen Fiji up against Samoa in the second.
Los Angeles 7s
Samoa lost all three pool matches at the Los Angeles 7s tournament at the weekend.
They were defeated 31-12 by the United States of America, lost to Australia 28-18 and New Zealand 10-7 in pool play.
But they bounced back to thump New Zealand 12-5 to end the tournament at number nine.
Fiji were disappointing also, losing 21-19 to Spain in an upset result, leaving Spain to qualify for their first-ever semi-final appearance in the series history.
They had won their three pool matches earlier pipping Great Britain 15-12, walloping Canada 40-0 and then accounting for France 14-10. Both Great Britain and France ended up playing in the Cup final.
In the end Fiji lost to Argentina 26-21 and had to settle for sixth place in the end.
The result meant that Ben Gollings has not won any title for Fiji after 19 tournaments on the world series.
Fijiana women finished 11th after they thrashed Spain 40-7, in their only win at the three-day event.
They had earlier lost 17-12 to Great Britain in the ninth place play-off, 38-7 to New Zealand, 19-7 to South Africa and 12-5 to Brazil in pool play.
Fiji schools rugby league
The Fiji Secondary Schools Rugb League competition held round two matches in Suva on Saturday.
Vanua Levu school team Bua Sea Eagles fought hard in their 48-12 defeat to the experienced RKS Eels in an exciting show of skills.
Despite the loss The Fiji Times reported the side had shown a lot of promise. They had won their first game against Nausori-based school Sila Central in the first roud winning 12-0.
Other results: U17 Nasinu Panther 16-4 Gospel Saints, Marist Storms 20-0 CMF Saints, U19 Bua Sea Eagles 12-48 RKS Eels, Pherrus Schoolgirls competition: Namosi Titans 14-8 John Wesley, Wainimala 22-4 SVC, Adi Cakobau School 0-28 Naitasiri Warriors, Lami High 22-4 Dudley High.
-Send your weekend sports results to be included in Pasifika Sipoti's weekly update from around the region published every Monday. Email to: iliesa.tora@rnz.co.nz
