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Everything you need to know ahead of the Pacific Nations Cup final

Frank Lomani of Fiji and Malo Tuitama of Japan. Photo by LEON LORD/AFP via Getty Images and PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images

Four of the Pacific’s heavyweights are set to collide in Osaka on Saturday in a doubleheader that will decide the Pacific Nations Cup podium.

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For Manu Samoa and the USA, it’s a chance to finish competitive campaigns on a high and prove they are tracking well in this new World Cup cycle.

For the finalists, Japan and Fiji, the title is on the line and there will be plenty of heart on display as the teams chase the title of Pacific kings.

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Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup final round, available to watch on RugbyPass TV in select territories.

Samoa vs USA

Where: Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka
When: 16:00 local time, Saturday, September 21

The third-place final sees the team with the most tackles in the tournament, the USA, come up against the team with as many defenders beaten as any team in Manu Samoa.

While both were, in the end, comfortably dismissed by their semi-final opponents, these two teams have some star power across the matchday 23, with Samoa’s No. 8 Iakopo Petelo-Mapu claiming a round-high 25 tackles against Japan and his USA counterpart Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz leading the competition in average carries per 80 minutes.

There have been just seven Test matches total between these two nations, with USA winning the most recent two and Samoa winning the first five.

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Fiji vs Japan

Where: Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka
When: 19:05 local time, Saturday, September 21

Get your popcorn ready, this is going to be fun. Both of these teams boast exhausting attacks that promise to make this final an Osaka spectacle.

Both sides scored over 90 points over their two pool games, and Japan backed that up with a 49-point outing against Samoa in the semi-final while Fiji overcame a rapid start from the USA, flexing their muscles defensively to claim a 22-3 win and advance to the final.

Japan leads the tournament in the majority of statistical categories in both attack and defence while their set-piece also rates highly. Fiji claims the top spot in key categories like defenders beaten, turnovers won and opposition 22m entries.

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Both sides employ dual-playmaker attacks, with young stars in the making familiar to the N0. 10 jersey playing at fullback behind a more experienced campaigner at flyhalf.

For Fiji, it’s Caleb Muntz leading the attack with assistance from Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula. For Japan, veteran Harumichi Tatekawa is backed up by perhaps the competition’s MVP to date in Seungsin Lee at fullback.

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f
fl 22 minutes ago
Springboks' No.1 status in world rankings coming under increased threat

“It was in a time where the divide between teams and quality may as well have been from different universes. Now, the teams are closer than they ever was. It's not that NZ have become worse, it's just that others caught up. Few teams would be able to break those records if ever. Not even NZ themselves will be able to ever break those records. It is an interesting record, yet no one talks about it.”

Agree.


“Despite such dominant performances, they could only manage 3 WC trophies during that time, so actually just a success rate of 33,3%.”

No, in the time that the world rankings have existed there have only been 6 WCs, and NZ have only won 2. In the time NZ were dominating the world rankings there were 2 WCs, and NZ won them both.


“That dominance was basically nullified in a sense. What would you have? The records for the most weeks at 1 when most other teams were very weak? Or would you prefer having the most WC's? Which is more important? The record of weeks at number 1? Or the most WC trophies ever? The title as the Kings of knockout rugby? Records doesn't bring titles.”

I’d much rather have the record for most weeks at #1. Not because the rankings matter in and of themselves, but because the rankings are a good indication of how much a team wins. World cups are the most important competition, hence why they are weighted more heavily in the rankings and winning the world cup always results in being ranked first. But other competitions matter too. NZ were so dominant in the world rankings because they won the world cup, and the rugby championship nearly every year, and won the vast majority of their tours. SA have been #1 less than NZ because even though they have won more WCs, they have been much less successful in all other matches and competitions. 2024 is the first time since the 90s that SA were the best in the world during a non-world cup year. As an England fan, I like it when England win, and I don’t like it when England lose. I care more about the WC than other matches, but ultimately I would rather England win consistently than somehow win regular world cups without winning anything in between.


Something you need to bear in mind is that during the time that NZ were dominant in the rankings, “the divide between teams and quality may as well have been from different universes” - and that includes SA. Being an SA fan must be like heaven now - but the WC titles don’t take away how bad things were from 2010-2018.

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