(Written by Azul: September 24, 2024)
The PNC Cup semi-finals 2nd game was held on September 15 at the Chichibunomiya Rugby Ground in Minato-ku, Tokyo.
Rugby is usually played in the cooler months of fall and winter, so it was unusual for the semifinals to be held during the hottest part of the summer, as it was on this day.
The temperature that day was 33 degrees Celsius, making it a very tough game for the fans watching the game. The attendance for the day was 14,893, about 70% of the full attendance.
After yesterday’s match, Fiji, ranked first in Group A, advanced to the finals, but could the Japanese national team, ranked first in Group B, advance to the finals? The Japanese team, ranked No. 1 in Group B, will face a strong Samoan team that has been competing with the Japanese team on an equal footing for the past several years.
Let us introduce you to the two teams that will be competing on this day. First, let us introduce the Visitor Team, the Samoa National Team.
The Samoa team was ranked 13th in the world before this match, one rank higher than the Japan team. The overall record between Japan and Samoa is 6 wins and 12 losses for Japan, with Samoa winning by a wide margin. Samoa has had a period of declining strength, though,
Samoa has been steadily improving since joining the professional rugby league Super Rugby in 2022 under the name Moana Pasifika. Most of the regular members of this year’s team belong to Moana Pasifika.
This day’s starting lineup was as follows.
| SAMOA | |||||
| No. | Name | height | weight | age | SAMOA Caps |
| 1 | Aki SEIULI | 184cm | 118kg | 27 | 3 |
| 2 | Sama MALOLO | 183cm | 109kg | 26 | 3 |
| 3 | Marco FEPULEAI | 183cm | 127kg | 29 | 1 |
| 4 | Benjamin Petaia Nee-NEE | 198cm | 116kg | 31 | |
| 5 | Samuel SLADE | 195cm | 118kg | 27 | 4 |
| 6 | Theodore McFarland | 198cm | 115kg | 28 | 8 |
| 7 | Izaiha MOORE-AIONO | 183cm | 99kg | 28 | |
| 8 | Iacopo MAPU | 184m | 110kg | 26 | |
| 9 | Melani MATAVAO | 171m | 73kg | 28 | 14 |
| 10 | Rodney IONA | 177cm | 89kg | 33 | 10 |
| 11 | Elisapeta ALOFIPO | 173cm | 82kg | 26 | |
| 12 | Alapati LEIUA | 185cm | 100kg | 35 | 34 |
| 13 | Lalomilo LALOMILO | 189cm | 106kg | 25 | |
| 14 | Tuna TUITAMA | 187cm | 95kg | 24 | 2 |
| 15 | Tomasi ALOSIO | 185cm | 92kg | 32 | 2 |
** Player to watch **
Rodney IONA. 177cm, 89kg, 33 years old. Samoa national team cap=10.
Born in Melbourne, Australia. After playing for professional clubs in Australia, France, Spain, and England, IONA now plays for New Orleans Gold, a professional team in North America. If you have a preconceived notion of the normal Samoan style, i.e., hard contact and physicality up front to break through, opposing teams are in for a world of hurt. His line-breaking technique is something to watch out for.
Next, an update on the home team, the Japanese national team.
Since the PNC in August, the Japanese national team has replaced some of its players, and the team is now made up mainly of young players. Tatekawa himself is a 34-year-old veteran player, having played in the RWC 2015 and 2019. When he next competes at RWC 2027, it will be his first time back after 3 tournaments. It will be interesting to see how TATEKAWA, the new Skipper, will lead the team.
This day’s starting lineup was as follows.
** Player to watch **
(The player on the left in the photo is FUJIWARA)
Shinobu FUJIWARA. 171 cm, 76 kg, 25 years old. He is a graduate of Tenri University and plays for Kubota Spears. He is aiming to be a regular SH for PNC after SAITO, a regular SH for Japan’s national team, left the team temporarily due to an overseas transfer. One of the most notable features of this team is its quick switching between offense and defense when attacking. When he sees a gap in the opposing team, he instantly goes for it with his aggressiveness. Since FUJIWARA became the starter, Japan’s national team has been on a winning streak, and it will be interesting to see how far they can extend their winning streak.
Let the games begin.
Just before the start of the match, Siva Tau, the War Cry of the SAMOA national team, was performed.
Kickoff for the second semifinal match was at 15:05. On this day, the match was played from the hottest time of the day.
6 minutes into the first half:
Since the JONES HC team came into power, the Japanese national team has been scoring points at once from the start of the game.
From the kickoff, the team took the ball and attacked deep into the enemy territory, launching a series of attacks. The Samoan team did not allow the Japanese team to break the in-goal, as the Japanese team attacked hard from the beginning of the game. However, the Japanese team took the ball out of the opponents’ lineout on the left side, and after an attempt by the FW side attack, the ball was deployed to the right side, where FB LEE rolled a golo punt behind the opposing defense, which CTB RILEY caught, and scored a try right in the middle of the enemy’s in-goal. The conversion goal after the try was also a success.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, and the score was 7-0, giving the Japanese team the lead for the first time.
10 minutes into the first half:
The Japanese national team was able to push deep into the enemy territory due to some infringements by the Samoan national team. The Japanese team moved to the right deep in the enemy territory, and as they approached the enemy in-goal, SH FUJIWARA released a pass that was intentionally knocked down by WTB ALOFIPO of the Samoan national team.
The video judgment resulted in a certified try for the Japanese team.
7 points were added for the authorized try, and the score was 14-0.
13 minutes into the first half:
Here, the Samoan team showed their true strength. The Samoan team moved into the enemy territory, and individual players made repeated advances through contact play. Then, MAPU, the No. 8, broke through the enemy defense and made a big gain.
The Samoan team then moved to the right when MAPU was caught by the defense, and finally WTB TUITAMA scored a try right in the middle of the enemy’s in-goal.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 14-7.
16 minutes into the first half:
After an infringement by the opponents, Japan’s national team advanced into the enemy territory with a penalty kick, and from a lineout on their own ball, hooker HARADA made a quick move forward. Hooker Harada’s advance was caught by the opposing defense just before the in-goal, but from there, the Japanese team moved to the right and FB Lee kicked a pass to the right space, which was caught by WTB OSADA, who scored a try right in the middle of the enemy in-goal.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, and the score was 21-7.
25 minutes into the first half:
The SAMOA national team drew an offside foul by the opposing defense near the 10-meter line. The SAMOA team then opted for a PG, which was scored by SO IONA to make the score 21-10.
29 minutes into the first half:
At about 30 meters from the goal post, the Japanese team was fouled for Not Release the Ball. The SAMOA team opted to go for the PG, which SO IONA converted to make the score 21-13.
39 minutes into the first half:
Toward the end of the first half, Japan’s national team entered the enemy territory due to a foul by the opposing defense, and developed a series of attacks, mainly open attacks. After swinging left and right, the Japanese team finally created a numerical advantage on the left side of the field, and FB LEE ran in to score a try in the middle of the enemy in-goal on the left side.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 28-13. The first half ended here, and the Japanese national team headed into the second half with a 15-point lead.
Here, it was half time.
In this extremely hot weather, the game was physically demanding for both teams’ players and spectators.
The Japanese national team scored consecutive tries from the first half, and from there they were able to seize control of the match. It will be interesting to see how the Samoan team will come back in the second half, and whether the Japanese team will be able to hold on for victory.
Let’s start the second half.
4 minutes into the second half:
From their own line, SH FUJIWARA broke through the narrow side and got behind the enemy line, and FB LEE rolled in a golo punt, which WTB OSADA advanced and caught. After this, OSADA was caught by the opposing defense and with an offload pass, he passed to FB LEE. LEE was caught by the defense 7 to 8 meters before the in-goal, but he made an off-load pass to FL SIMOKAWA, who scored a try right in the middle of the enemy’s in-goal.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 35-13.
12 minutes into the second half:
The Samoan national team was down by a few points at this point, but the backs showed some excellent passing work to break down the left flank of the opposition line and connect for a try. The final try was scored by SH MATAVAO.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 35-20.
18 minutes into the second half:
At this time of the game, almost all of the players in the game were showing signs of fatigue. In particular, the Samoan FW players were noticeably breathing on their shoulders.
The Japanese national team moved deep into the enemy territory, and after a foul by Samoa, instead of going for a penalty kick to touch kick, SH FUJIWARA started a series of attacks from a tap kick. As the Japanese national team deployed their attack, they gradually closed in on the enemy in-goal, and SH FUJIWARA took advantage of a momentary lapse in the opposing defense to score a try in the right corner at the goal post.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 42-20.
32 minutes into the second half:
Toward the end of the match, the SAMOA national team began to tire more and more, as they were continuously attacked in their own territory, especially at set pieces and lineouts where they lost the ball. However, from deep in their own territory, the SAMOA BK picked up the kicked ball and counter-attacked from there, connecting with WTB ALOFIPO from SO IONA, who got behind the enemy defense and passed the ball to CTB LALOMILO who followed up and ran over 50m! He overtook the Japan national team lock DEARNS who was chasing him, and scored a try in the left center of the enemy’s in-goal.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 42-27.
39 minutes into the second half:
The score difference indicated that the Japanese national team had almost won the game, but the Japanese national team continued to attack in front of the enemy’s in-goal to score more points. The ball was passed to WTB TAKAHASHI, who took over for the substitute, and he was able to score a try despite being tangled up in the opposing defense.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, and the score was 49-27, and the game ended with this score.
The fitness of the Japanese national team stood out in this match, despite the extremely hot weather conditions. The team’s ability to run around even in the final minutes of the match showed that Japan’s team strength has improved.
How will they fare against the powerful Fiji team, ranked 10th in the world, in the PNC finals in a week’s time? We look forward to watching with great anticipation.
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