United States beat Japan 23-18 in Pacific Nations Cup

Flyhalf Michael Stanley converted a penalty in the final moments as Samoa stormed back to tie Fiji 30-30 at the Pacific Nations Cup on Friday.

Fullback Metuisela Talebula and Leone Nakarawa scored tries as Fiji wasted no time getting on the board before leading 17-10 at halftime.

Samoa had won the last three contests against Fiji, but it looked like Fiji were in line to snap that streak today after racing out to a big lead.

On the back of the historic test against the All Blacks in Apia, Samoa enjoyed some solid preparation and backed themselves to come back.

Fiji led 27-10 after 51 minutes before Samoa launched a dogged comeback, tying up the match with tries to prop Anthony Perenise, centre Paul Perez – who bagged a double – and T.J.

Samoa will be keen to improve their defence and turnover areas but they will be satisfied enough to escape with a draw after conceding so many early points.

The competition kicked off last weekend, when Samoa defeated the United States 21-16 and Japan triumphed over Canada 20-6.

Canada led 15-3 in the first half but were swamped soon after to slump to their second consecutive defeat.

In the other Friday match, Tonga posted their first victory when they overcame a slow start to beat Canada 28-18 in a match played at Burnaby in suburban Vancouver.

Sonatane Takulua scored two tries as Tonga rebounded from a first-round 30-22 loss to Fiji.

Furthermore, the rankings of said countries will fluctuate depending on results and so it is perfectly feasible that Japan could leapfrog Vern Cotter’s men before our own World Cup warm-up games get going.