(Written by Azul: October 14, 2024)
The PNC, which began in late August of this year, finally reached its final on September 21. The first match of the day, Samoa vs USA, started at 19:00, about an hour after the match for 3rd place was over.
At the time of the first match, it was a daytime game, but by the time the second match started, the sun had set and it became a night game.
It was expected that the Fiji national team would win from Block A based on their world ranking, but honestly, I did not know if the newly formed Japan national team would be able to beat the Samoan team in the semifinals. However, the Japanese national team played an impressive semifinal match, showing the strongest winning attitude in the test matches played this season.
It will be interesting to see how far they can go against the Fiji national team.
Now, let me introduce the two teams that played in the final.
First, let’s talk about the home team, the Japanese national team.
Japan is ranked 13th in the world. They have won the PNC (2006-2024, held 17 times so far) 3 times. This year’s tournament will be held in their hometown, and they are aiming to win for the first time since 2019. In this year’s tournament, all teams are aiming for the RWC 2027, and each team will be led by young players.
The national team’s wins and losses in test matches this season are as follows.
| Date | Opponent | match venue | Result | |
| 1 | 6/22 | England | Tokyo | 17-52● |
| 2 | 6/29 | Maori All Blacks | Tokyo | 10-36● |
| 3 | 7/6 | Maori All Blacks | Toyoda | 26-14○ |
| 4 | 7/13 | Georgia | Sendai | 23-25● |
| 5 | 7/21 | Italy | Sapporo | 14-42● |
| 6 | 8/25 | Canada | Bancouver | 55-28○ |
| 7 | 9/7 | USA | Saitama | 41-24○ |
| 8 | 9/15 | Samoa | Tokyo | 49-27○ |
| 9 | 9/21 | Fiji | Osaka | |
| 10 | 10/26 | All Blacks | Tokyo | |
| 11 | 11/9 | France | Paris | |
| 12 | 11/24 | England | London |
Up until before the PNC finals, they had won 4 and lost 4. Reflecting this performance, the number of visitors at each stadium this season has led to a poor sales performance, with 60-70% of the visitors coming in. After all, when the Brave Blossoms, Japan’s top team, is weak, attendance declines throughout the Japanese rugby world.
This day’s starting lineup was as follows.
| Brave Blossoms | |||||
| No. | Name | height | weight | age | Japan Caps |
| 1 | Shogo MIURA | 180cm | 108kg | 29 | 12 |
| 2 | Mamoru HARADA | 175cm | 101kg | 25 | 6 |
| 3 | Shuhei TAKEUCHI | 183cm | 115kg | 26 | 7 |
| 4 | Epineri ULUIVITI | 198cm | 118kg | 28 | 0 |
| 5 | Warner DEARNS | 201m | 117kg | 22 | 16 |
| 6 | Amato FAKATAVA | 195m | 117kg | 29 | 8 |
| 7 | Kanji SHIMOKAWA | 188cm | 105kg | 25 | 8 |
| 8 | Faulua MAKISI | 187cm | 112kg | 27 | 10 |
| 9 | Shinobu FUJIWARA | 171cm | 76kg | 25 | 4 |
| 10 | Harumichi TATEKAWA | 180cm | 94kg | 34 | 57 |
| 11 | Malo TUITAMA | 182cm | 91kg | 28 | 2 |
| 12 | Nicolas MCCURRAN | 188cm | 93kg | 28 | 2 |
| 13 | Dylan RILEY | 187cm | 102kg | 27 | 22 |
| 14 | Tomoki OSADA | 179cm | 90kg | 24 | 11 |
| 15 | Seungsin LEE | 176cm | 86kg | 23 | 16 |
One of the bright spots for the team was the semifinal match against Samoa, where for the first time “super-fast rugby” worked throughout the match. Rugby that finds an opening in the opponent, and the entire team comes together as one to attack and defend with vigor. The team was able to keep moving in the 30+ degree heat of the semi-finals, and I expect to see a repeat of that in this final.
＊＊ Player to watch ＊＊
Harumichi TATEKAWA. 180 cm, 94 kg, 34 years old. Position = SO, CTB; Team = Kubota Spears. He was the main BK player in Japan’s national team at RWC2015 and was a starter in the team’s first ever defeat of South Africa. He was not selected for the RWC 2019 and 2023, but returned to the Japan national team this season. He is a master of the parallel pass on the verge of slow forward, and shows his high skill while crossing with the opposing defense.
Next, I would like to introduce the Visitor Team, the Fiji National Team.
They are ranked 10th in the world, nicknamed the Flying Fijians. They have won 6 PNC titles and have reached the final of the RWC 3 times. Until around the RWC2019 tournament, the team had a pattern of taking a big lead from the start of the game with a series of furious attacks, only to run out of energy in the second half and score more and more goals. However, nowadays, the team has shown a stable game style, showing solid set plays throughout the match without running out of stamina in the middle of the game.
This day’s starting lineup was as follows.
| Fiji | |||||
| No. | Name | height | weight | age | Fiji Caps |
| 1 | Eroni MAWI | 180cm | 131kg | 28 | 31 |
| 2 | Tevita IKANIVERE | 183cm | 113kg | 25 | 13 |
| 3 | Sameula TAWAKE | 183cm | 120kg | 28 | 8 |
| 4 | Isoa NASILASILA | 197cm | 117kg | 25 | 12 |
| 5 | Temo MAYANAVANUA | 197cm | 120kg | 26 | 15 |
| 6 | Meli DERENALAGI | 190cm | 84kg | 25 | 5 |
| 7 | Kitione SALAWA | 192cm | 95kg | 23 | 0 |
| 8 | Elia CANAKAIVATA | 185m | 104kg | 28 | 0 |
| 9 | Frank LOMANI | 180m | 81kg | 28 | 31 |
| 10 | Caleb MUNTZ | 176cm | 86kg | 24 | 2 |
| 11 | Ilaisa DROASESE | 187cm | 103kg | 26 | 1 |
| 12 | Inia TABUAVOU | 185cm | 101kg | 22 | 0 |
| 13 | Iosefo BALEIWAIRIKI | 190cm | 84kg | 26 | 4 |
| 14 | Vuate KARAWALEVU | 193cm | 104kg | 23 | 0 |
| 15 | Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula | 175cm | 86kg | 20 | 0 |
** Player to watch **
（No.9 Player）Frank LOMANI. 180 cm, 81 kg, 28 years old. Position = SH. caps for Fiji = 31. club = Fijian Drua. played in RWC 2019 and 2023.
He has played professionally for SUPER RUGBY with Rebels, Reds and Fijian Drua, and also for Northampton Saints in England.
Lomani’s ability to break through will come in handy when the Fiji national team dominates in the scrums.
Now, the first half of the match is about to begin.
The attendance for the day was 14,437. It is about 60% of the full house. For a final of the Japanese national team, this is a bit of a sad number.
Prior to the start of the match, a pre-match ceremony was also held in the second match.
Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko, Honorary President of the Japan Rugby Union, gave a pep talk to the players of both teams.
Just before kickoff, the War Cry of the Fiji national team, Cibi, was performed, heightening the pre-match tension.
5 minutes into the first half:
From the beginning of the match, there were many occasions when the physical pressure of the Fiji national team was felt. Their scrums were strong, they were pushed into mauls, and they steadily cut the gain line even around the densely packed field.
In response, the Japanese national team made many advances in the enemy territory by quickly moving the ball out in dense formation, developing quickly, and moving forward by taking advantage of small spaces in successive attacks, and so on. About 20 meters in front of the goalposts, the Fiji team committed an infringement, and the Japanese team opted to go for the PG. Japan’s FB LEE succeeded in scoring the first goal for the Japanese team. The score was 3-0.
8 minutes into the first half:
Fiji’s team was able to get behind the defenders in a tight game, but unlike the other South Seas teams, Fiji’s team was not as aggressive in the contact play, they commit few penalties in contact play. The Fiji team was able to get a PG opportunity after drawing a foul on the Japanese team 25 meters in front of the goalposts. Here, Fiji national team SO
MUNTZ scored the PG and the score was tied 3-3.
19 minutes into the first half:
From a scrum in the middle of the field, Japan’s national team went left and the ball went to CTB RILEY, who cut in, got behind the enemy defenders, and made a quick gain, going close to the enemy’s in-goal. There, he was surrounded by Fiji’s national team defenders, but rolled a golo punt behind them, and when it rolled to the left side of the goal post in the enemy’s in-goal, RILEY held it himself and scored a try.
CTB RILEY, who is playing very well for PNC, scored another solo try in this match. He once again showed off his speed and physicality in front of a huge crowd. This was his sixth try in a row.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 10-3.
30 minutes into the first half:
In this match, Fiji’s national team had not shown their Fijian Magic, a combination of FW and BK, until this point in the match, but at this time, the physicality that has been the hallmark of Fiji’s national team in recent years came to the fore. However, at this time of the game, the Fiji national team showed their physicality, which has been a characteristic of theirs in recent years, by scoring a series of tries when the ball carrier was caught by the Japan team’s defense until a follow-up player came running in. The try was scored by CTB TAVABO.
However, a video call was made and the Fiji team was found guilty of a knock-on infringement, dropping the ball forward in the process, so the try was cancelled out.
31 minutes into the first half:
The Fiji national team resumed the game with the ball, and after a short break into their own territory, the Fiji national team moved to the right and tried to pass the ball from the CTB to the WTB. The ball was caught by the enemy defense and spilled by Fiji’s WTB KARAWALEVU, who kicked the ball deep into the enemy territory. Then KARAWALEVU caught the ball himself and scored a try just below the goal post.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, and the score was tied 10-10.
The first half ended with the same score. However, at the end of the first half, Japan’s hooker Harada was sent off for 10 minutes for a high tackle, which was expected to have an impact on the second half of the match.
Compared to the semifinal match against Samoa, the Fiji national team showed stronger set pieces, densely-packed battles, and individual contact play, and the fact that the Japanese team ended the first half tied was a fairly healthy performance. If the Japanese national team can continue their winning ways, it will be a testament to the growth of the team as a whole. Fans of the Japan national team should keep their eyes on the second half to see if they can hold off the world’s top-ranked team like this.
Let the second half begin.
The Japanese national team had been getting pushed around in the scrums and other set plays, and it was becoming increasingly noticeable that they were being outplayed. In addition, the strong pressure from the Fiji national team made it impossible for the Japanese team to play counter rucks and jackals in dense battles, which the team had shown several times in the first half. When the Japanese team lost in a series of close quarters battles, the other team would gain a mental edge and began to smoothly execute another series of attacks, allowing for big gains.
15 minutes into the second half:
With the Fiji team gradually gaining the upper hand in the physical battle, the Japanese team committed an infringement in front of their own goal posts at a distance of about 30 meters, giving the Fiji team a PG opportunity. Fiji’s SO MUNTZ scored to make the score 10-13.
19 minutes into the second half:
At this point in the half, the Japanese team began to tire from the physical battle, and Fiji was able to gain a numerical advantage by attacking out wide. From there, WTB Loganimasi, who came on as a substitute, scored a try in the left corner of the enemy’s in-goal.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 10-20.
23 minutes into the second half:
For the first time in the second half, the Japanese national team had their own lineout deep in enemy territory. However, the Japanese team could not catch the ball, and SO MUNTZ kicked the ball deep into the enemy territory, and went over the 22-meter line. This gave the Fiji national team the opportunity to reverse the 50-22 rule and close in on the opposition’s in-goal.
This was a pinch for the Japan national team as none of their BK players were where they should have been to cover defensively.
26 minutes into the second half:
The expressions on the Japan national team players’ faces on the big screen in the stadium were clearly showing signs of fatigue. In the second half, Japan’s team was almost exclusively on the defensive. In such a situation, the Fiji national team gained the upper hand in a tight battle in front of the enemy’s in-goal, and finally, substitute FW Tuisue scored a try in the middle of the enemy’s in-goal on the left side.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 10-27.
28 minutes into the second half:
The Japanese national team seemed to have run out of steam somewhat as they were down by 17 points and finding it difficult to turn the game around in the remaining time. The restart kickoff was kicked back to SO MUNTZ of the Fiji national team, and a very ordinary high punt fell to WTB OSADA, who made a painful knock-on. OSADA is the least mistake-prone BK player in the Japan national team, but he seemed to be under a lot of mental pressure to make such a mistake.
29 minutes into the second half:
The Japanese team tried to recover from this phase by making some strong tackles, but they could no longer stop Fiji, who had gained momentum. Fiji’s national team once again gained a numerical advantage when they moved to the right and WTB KARAWALEVU scored a try in the right corner of the enemy’s in-goal.
The score was 10-34 after the try, with the conversion goal coming from a difficult angle.
34 minutes into the second half:
In the final minutes of the match, the Japanese team tried to score a try from deep in their own territory, but the ball was tackled and dropped by WTB Loganimasi, who was substituted by the Fiji national team.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 10-41.
37 minutes into the second half:
With no points scored in the second half, Japan’s national team attacked to get one last shot at revenge. From a lineout in their own half, substitute SH KOYAMA passed the ball to CTB RILEY. RILEY flowed sideways and created space for WTB TUITAMA, who scored a try in the left corner at the goal post.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, and the score was 17-41.
With this score, the 2024 PNC was decided with Fiji as the winner and Japan as the runner-up, with Fiji showing the ability of the 10th ranked team in the world, and Japan using the weaknesses they showed in the second half of the match as food for growth in the upcoming test match series The Japanese national team will now look forward to the next test match series in October and onward.
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Stop the war.
Peace to Ukraine
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