After a few days of catching up it’s time to get back at it. First order of business, a quick review of the Pacific Nations Cup tournament as a whole.
When the new tournament was first announced it was met with mixed emotions. The excitement that proper Tier 2 nations would be competing instead of development sides from Australia or New Zealand was tempered with the feeling that it was all thrown together last minute, as evidenced by very poor scheduling reminiscent of some of the problems experienced at the World Cup.
The timing of the tournament was also an issue, as its early stages fell outside of the June test window and precluded the involvement of several top professionals for every side, in some cases dramatically affecting not only the makeup but the performance of the teams themselves. Only Japan ever truly had its full complement of players, but such is the nature of international rugby for the Tier 2 nations these days outside of World Cup competition, and even then there are difficulties.
The rugby itself was, for the most part, tremendously entertaining. Every game was competitive with no side standing head and shoulders above another, and all teams were intent on playing expansive, positive rugby, with only a brief spell of abject indiscipline by Tonga in the Canadian fixture exhibiting any sort of unsportsmanlike behaviour. Even in the driving rain that plagued proceedings first in Fiji and then in Japan the willingness to play football and not resort to simply shelling the ball downfield was exemplary.
As for individual team performances, only the Americans might feel that they let themselves down on the whole. This was a big jump for many of the Eagles, who were able to call on only a handful of full-time professionals, and even then only sparingly. While their defense has improved, offensively they stuttered and lacked any penetrative ball runners to make inroads through the traffic in midfield. Their lineout was sound but their scrum was abysmal. That said they improved as the tournament went on and with sustained exposure to games of this level and consistency in selection, they will get better sooner than later.
Northern neighbours Canada face similar continuity issues in terms of selection and preparation, but have roughly twice as many professionals and the luxury of having most of their domestic players based at their high performance centre on the west coast. Though they were missing a few players through injury, the Canadian pack was still arguably the pick of the tournament and provided ample opportunities for a bit-part but adequate backline. They were perhaps lucky to face a tired and depleted Fijian side in Ottawa and certainly benefitted from Tonga’s self-implosion, but credit is certainly due for a fine tournament with only a three point loss to Japan standing in the way of topping the table.
It was the tale of two halves for the Cherry Blossoms, who looked uninterested in their opening losses against Tonga and Fiji, but the addition of their Super Rugby stars Shota Horie and Fumiaki Tanaka inspired them first to a famous win over Wales and then to victories over both North American opponents. As always they miss a few big boppers in the forwards, though their technical prowess particularly in the set piece is exceptional. A new wave of young and exciting backs are breaking through just at the right time, and they have a first class goal kicker in fullback Ayumu Goromaru. Twelve months from now they could well be knocking on the door of champion status.
After a hugely promising start against Japan, the Tongans produced a mixed bag for the remainder of the tournament. The debacle in the Canadian test cost them not only a victory but three players to suspension and key flyhalf Kurt Morath to injury. They managed to scrape together an unlikely win over a woeful American side in Los Angeles, but never really had much of a chance against Fiji. Looking forward they’ll have to regroup somewhat and hope that their best players are available to face France and Wales this November.
The dread of travelling halfway around the world to play Canada on three days rest no doubt contributed to Fiji’s only defeat of the tournament, but the addition of several front line players helped them close out the tournament in style. Their defense struggled at times, and their offense was erratic, though the mood swings inevitably produced the highlights of the tournament. Nobody can score eighty metre tries like these blokes, and there were some absolute crackers. Of note was the quality of their scrum, which has improved in leaps and bounds since their absolute decimation at the hands of England.
Looking at the big picture this was a very positive first run in terms of player development. Some new stars look to be emerging, the level of play is improving, and the end product is very exciting. If the scheduling issue can be resolved in such a way that allows for sides to have access to their best players, and with the addition of Samoa from next season, this should prove to be a very popular tournament going forward.
