The FIJI Water Flying Fijians defeated Canada 45-29 in their Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup clash tonight, putting them in a strong position to defend their title.<\/p>\n
Fiji started strongly, with Kitione Salawa crossing the try line within the first minute to put Fiji 7-0 ahead.<\/p>\n
They continued to apply pressure on the Canadians and starved them of possession.<\/p>\n
Some great handling was on display from Fiji, as they managed to put Frank Lomani over the try line to extend their lead to 14-0.<\/p>\n
Canada managed to score their first try through Mason Flesch, closing the gap to 14-7.<\/p>\n
The Flying Fijians did not let up as they continued to push forward, determined to ensure the title returns to the islands.<\/p>\n
Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula and Peni Ravai scored tries before halftime to give Fiji a 26-17 lead at the break.<\/p>\n
Fiji started the second half strongly again, with captain Tevita Ikanivere scoring in the fifth minute, followed by a double from Motikiai Murray.<\/p>\n
The Canadians did not quit, continuing to push for their third try, which came in the 65th minute when Kyle Tremblay crossed the try line.<\/p>\n
The try was a boost for Canada as they matched Fiji\u2019s physicality, with Flesch following through on a kick and managing to outmuscle Isikeli Rabitu to score their fourth try.<\/p>\n
Fiji played the final minutes with 13 men after Isoa Nasilasila and Terio Tamani were shown yellow cards. However, Nasilasila\u2019s yellow card was upgraded to a red following a TMO review.<\/p>\n
Fiji will now turn their focus to next Saturday, when they will face the winner of the Japan and USA match.<\/p>\n
Fiji vs Canada LIVE UPDATES<\/p>\n
1st half – Kick-off: FIJI<\/p>\n
45 seconds: Try to Fiji. Kitione Salawa. FJ 7-0 CAN<\/p>\n
4′ Try to Fiji. Great handling from Fiji that resulted in Frank Lomani crossing over the tryline. FJ 14-0 CAN
7′ Try to Canada.\u00a0Mason Flesch. FJ 14-7 CAN<\/p>\n
8′ Great attack from Canada, breaking through Fiji’s defence. Fiji got lucky as Canada dropped the ball close to the try line. FJ 14-7 CAN
17′ Penalty to Canada as Fiji is penalised for tackling a player in the air. FJ 14-7 CAN<\/p>\n
23′ Try to Fiji. Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula.\u00a0FJ 19-7 CAN<\/p>\n
26′ Canada converts a penalty. FJ 19-10 CAN<\/p>\n
30′ Try to Fiji. A quick play from the lineout by the forwards resulted in Peni Ravai crossing over. FJ 26-10 CAN<\/p>\n
34′ Try to Canada.\u00a0Sion Parry.\u00a0FJ 26-17 CAN<\/p>\n
38′ Canada had the momentum going, but the pass could not connect, resulting in a knock-on just metres away from the try line. FJ 26-17 CAN<\/p>\n
HT: FJ 26-17 CAN<\/p>\n
2nd half – Kick off: CANADA<\/p>\n
2′ Fiji on the attack. A great start to the second half. FJ 26-17 CAN<\/p>\n
45′ Try to Fiji. Tevita Ikanivere. FJ 33-17 CAN<\/p>\n
50′ Try to Fiji. Motikiai Murray. FJ 38-17 CAN<\/p>\n
57′ Canada are doing everything to try and break through Fiji’s defence. FJ 38-17 CAN<\/p>\n
60′ Try to Fiji.\u00a0Motikiai Murray.\u00a0FJ 45-17 CAN<\/p>\n
65′ Try to Canada. Kyle Tremblay. FJ 45-22 CAN<\/p>\n
69′ Try to Canada.\u00a0Mason Flesch. FJ 45-29 CAN<\/p>\n
73′ Isoa Nasilasila shown a yellow card for a hugh tackle when trying to clear a ruck. FJ 45-29 CAN<\/p>\n
77′ Terio Tamani shown a yellow card. FJ 45-29 CAN<\/p>\n
79′ Isoa Nasilasila’s yellow card upgraded to red card.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The FIJI Water Flying Fijians defeated Canada 45-29 in their Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup clash tonight,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,294784,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-598155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-pacific-nations-cup-2026","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}