Flying Fijians falls short as Samoa claims 2022 PNC title
Vodafone Flying Fijians finished third overall in the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup after falling to Samoa 23-20 in the final PNC match at Churchill Park in Lautoka today.
Manu Samoa fly-half Rodney Iona slotted in the first penalty of the game as his side took a 3-nil lead.
20 minutes into the play and the Flying Fijians mounted pressure. Robust forward Albert Tuisue forced his way over the try line from a set piece play. 10 minutes later Frank Lomani cut his way through the Samoa defense and ran in for Fiji’s second try.
Ben Volavola had a perfect kicking game and slotted a penalty in the 39th minute as the Flying Fijians took a 17-3 lead at the breather.
Samoa came with a better game plan in the second half and closed the gap with a try from Seilala Lam. Ben Volavola slotted in another penalty and extended Fiji’s lead to 20-10.
Iona then kicked two penalties within 10 minutes as Samoa narrowed the score 20-16. The lady luck turned and this it was Samoa who ran in for their second try to take the lead on the scoreboard. The last quarter of the game got intense but, Flying Fijians threw everything in front of a full house Churchill Park, but Samoa players stood tall in defense. The Manu Samoa did enough and claimed the PNC title in style .
Vodafone Flying Fijians Head Coach Vern Cotter said they had a perfect first 40 minutes but the players lost control of the game in the second half.
“We did nearly everything right in the first half and took a lead of 17-3. I thought we would have come even stronger in the second half but then we slipped.
Samoa scored first in the second half and then probably took the control of the game whereas we kept on making simple errors” said Cotter.