Baby Blacks are the U19 World Champions
New Zealand won the International Rugby Board’s Under-19 World Championship when they beat South Africa 31-7 in the final at Ravenhill, Belfast, on Saturday evening.
The Baby Blacks were much too good for the Baby Boks and led 17-0 at half-time after running into an early 12-0 lead.
Australia, the 2006 champions, edged Wales to win third place.
Match details and reports are from the IRB.
Division A results of the final day:
11/12th: Fiji 60 – 12 Japan, 60-12
9/10th: Ireland vs Scotland, 34-0
7/8th: Samoa vs Argentina, 13-12
5/6th: France vs England, 43-17
3rd/4th: Australia vs Wales, 25-21
1st/2nd: New Zealand vs South Africa, 31-7
Final standing:
1 New Zealand
2 South Africa
3 Australia
4 Wales
5 France
6 England
7 Samoa
8 Argentina
9 Ireland
10 Scotland
11 Fiji
12 Japan
New Zealand vs South Africa, 31-7
New Zealand nullified the powerful South African pack with a mouth-watering display of attacking rugby to triumph 31-7 at Ravenhill to reclaim the IRB Under-19 World Championship crown they last won in 2004.
The final began at a frenetic pace with New Zealand clearly fired up after their performance of the Haka and determined to avoid a third successive IRB Under-19 World Championship runners-up medal.
New Zealand’s high intensity level was rewarded with two tries in the opening seven minutes to stun the 2005 champions, the first from Robert Fruean after good work from Zach Guildford enabled the centre to find the gap in the South African defence.
Trent Renata saw his conversion drift wide of the uprights, but the full back made no mistake with his second from in front of the posts minutes later to convert his own try after a flowing backline move with angled runs involving him, Guildford and Fruean.
Their momentum was halted by a sickening injury to centre Ryan Crotty, which held up play for several minutes and silenced the near capacity crowd. Crotty fell awkwardly in the tackle, his left ankle collapsing under him as he screamed out in pain on the floor.
Crotty departed on a stretcher with a few words from captain Chris Smith and the desire to win the title for their injured team-mate seemed a heavy burden at times, although a fantastic break by flank Peter Saili saw him stopped five metres shot.
Fruean turned from try-scorer to villain in the 31st minute when the centre was sin-binned by referee James Jones for a late swinging arm on fullback Wilton Pietersen, but he left the field trying to encourage his team-mates to remain strong while a man down.
A sublime cross-field kick by Renata bounced perfectly for Kade Poki, the wing’s chip taken into touch by South African flyhalf Francois Brummer.
Minutes later hooker Ash Dixon came close to scoring, but the television match official Julian Pritchard was unable to determine that the ball had been touched down.
However, New Zealand did not have long to wait for their third try, a perfectly timed cross-field kick from fly half Daniel Kirkpatrick being caught and touched down by the diving Poki for his sixth try of the tournament.
Renata missed the conversion, but 14-man New Zealand still went in leading 17-0 at half-time and South Africa needing a dramatic turnaround in fortunes after the break if they were to reclaim the title they won on home soil in 2005.
The loss of their inspirational captain Gerrit van Velze at half time did not help South Africa’s cause, neither did a missed penalty by centre Stefan Watermeyer in the opening minutes of the second half.
Instead it was New Zealand that scored the first points of the second half, a wonderful dummied pass inside to Renata by hooker Dixon fooling the defence and allowing him to charge for the line, before slipping the pass inside to the supporting Renata to score.
The fullback converted his own score once more and the dominant Baby Blacks continued to attack at will, running the ball from deep in their own half with great potency and punching holes in the South African defence time and time again.
Their play was rewarded when Jackson Willison, the replacement for the injured Crotty, scythed through a gaping hole in the defence to score New Zealand’s fifth try after the pass from Renata, who converted to leave his side leading 31-0.
South Africa, though, refused to simply fold and finished strongly, Van Velze’s replacement Yaasir Hartzenberg using every ounce of his strength to power over the line after a break by Pietersen. Watermeyer then duly curled his conversion inside the posts.
Much of the final 10 minutes was spent in the New Zealand half with South African forwards battering the defence, but despite wave after wave of pressure, the Baby Blacks refused to allow their try line to be breached for a second time.
Teams:
New Zealand: 15 Trent Renata, 14 Zac Guildford, 13 Robert Fruean, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Kade Poki, 10 Daniel Kirkpatrick, 9 Wayne Ngaluafe, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Luke Braid, 6 Peter Saili, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Chris Smith (captain), 3 Ben Afeaki, 2 Ash Dixon, 1 Rodney Ah You
Replacements (from): 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Paea Fa’anunu, 18 Nick Barrett, 19 Thomas Crowley, 20 Josh Townsend, 21 John Hardie, 22 Matt Cameron, 23 Jackson Willison, 24 Winston Stanley, 25 Ken Pisi, 26 Sean Maitland
South Africa: 15 Wilton Pietersen, 14 Bernado Botha, 13 Stephan Dippenaar, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Vainon Willis, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Gerrit van Velze (captain), 7 Johan van Deventer, 6 Thiliphaut Marole, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Cornell Hess, 3 Frik Kirsten, 2 Henri Bantjes , 1 Corne Fourie
Replacements (from): 16 Pieter Janse Van Vuuren, 17 Troy Masanganja, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Berend Botha, 20 Marlin Ruiters, 21 Tshepo Masuga, 22 Aubrey McDonald, 23 Mlindazwe Nqoro, 24 Yaasir Hartzenberg, 25 Earl-Jivan Snyman, 26 Sobelo Nhlapo
Referee: James Jones (Wales)
Touch judges: Neil Paterson (Scotland), David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Australia vs Wales, 25-21
Defending champions Australia broke Welsh hearts with a second half comeback to triumph 25-21 at Ravenhill and claim third place in the IRB Under-19 World Championship 2007 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Australia had actually enjoyed an early territorial advantage in the match, spending long periods in the Welsh 22. However it was Wales who took the lead against the run of play when Australia captain Brett Gillespie’s kick was charged down by Rhys Webb.
The scrumhalf gathered the ball and broke down the right wing, slipping the ball inside to centre Tom Williams just as Australian replacement Peter Betham moved in for the tackle on Webb, allowing the supporting Welshman to run in unchallenged.
Leigh Halfpenny kicked the conversion to give Wales a 7-0 lead after 16 minutes, but that advantage proved short-lived as Rob Simmons won the line-out ball and the Australian forwards surged through the parting defence for hooker James Hanson to touch down.
The conversion by Jason Ryan levelled the scores, but another Australian error resulted in a second try for Wales, wing Alfi Mafi on the counterattack choosing the right option to chip the advancing defence, but poor execution left his side badly exposed.
Williams recovered the ball and threw a long pass out to Gareth Owen on the left wing, the flyhalf having the pace to round Betham and sprint in for the try. Halfpenny held his nerve to slot the conversion after a lengthy delay for running repairs to referee Philip Bosch’s radio pack.
Wales though were not finished, working the ball along their backline for centre Rhys Williams to draw final defender Betham before feeding wing Jimmy Norris to race clear. Halfpenny’s conversion stretched his side’s advantage to a commanding 21-7.
Australia though had the final say in the first half, Ryan kicking a penalty to cut the deficit slightly to 21-10 and keep alive the outgoing champions’ hopes of salvaging some pride by finishing third in the tournament.
They emerged a different side in the second half, clearly benefiting from the words of coach Phil Mooney during the break, but it was Wales who should have stretched their advantage after the usually reliable Halfpenny missed with two penalty attempts.
Australia’s forwards began to come more to the fore, putting pressure on their opponents with pick and goes committing defenders, allowing the backs to work the ball wide with a missed pass allowing wing Andrew Barrett just enough space to dive over in the corner.
Ryan’s conversion had the direction but fell agonising short, leaving Australia trailing 21-15. However just before the hour mark Australia took the lead for the first time, two breaks by forwards leading to an offload out of a tackle for Mafi to score.
This time Ryan made no mistake with the conversion, scraping it inside the left upright to make it 22-21 to Australia. Wales tried to hit back once more, but they were penalised for hands in the ruck in their own 22, allowing Ryan to kick the penalty.
Wales therefore needed to score a try if they were to win it, but try as they did to run the ball from deep, it was left to Betham to fire the ball into touch with time up on the clock and Australia to celebrate what had seemed an unlikely victory in the first half.
Afterwards the Australian coach Phil Mooney said: “It was admirable the way we showed composure to come back from 21-10 down at half time. We obviously had to play a little bit of catch up. Importantly from our point of view, they were tries that we gifted them. We felt even we were behind on the scoreboard, we were still playing reasonably well. In the second half we completely dominated in the forwards and we were justly rewarded with the result in the end.
“All the Southern Hemisphere sides come in with nine days preparation and sometimes the opening games are against the unknown, but we have played some quality rugby and come out on the right end of close games. I am pleased with the way the boys have worked throughout the tournament and stuck at it.”
Wales captain Sam Warburton said: “Our first half performance was fantastic. We were leading 21-10 against a quality side at the break. We said at the interval we had to keep our composure and stick to our game plan, but once it started to slip away from us Australia started to take their chances.
“And that was the difference in the first half. We took our chances in the first half, but did not in the second and they took their opportunities and went on to come out on top. We were probably the only people who were not surprised by the way we performed in the tournament and while third place in the world would have been ideal, fourth is not bad.”
Wales flyhalf Gareth Owens: “We had really come on a lot since the opening day’s defeat by New Zealand. In many ways that was an eye-opener for us. It was good experience too and it was important for us to learn from it and move on, which we did. The backline was quite precise today. We spent a lot of time analysing Australia and we knew where to attack them.”
Scorers:
For Australia
Tries: James Hanson, Andrew Barrett, Alfi Mafi
Cons: Jason Ryan 2
Pens: Jason Ryan 2
For Wales:
Tries: Tom Williams, Gareth Owen, Jimmy Norris
Cons: Leigh Halfpenny 3
Teams:
Australia: 15 Patrick McCabe, 14 Alfi Mafi, 13 Rowan Kellam, 12 Mitchell Inman, 11 Andrew Barrett, 10 Brett Gillespie (captain), 9 Jason Ryan, 8 Michael Uoka, 7 Rodney Maa, 6 Ben McCalman, 5 Sam Wykes, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Daley, 2 James Hanson, 1 Albert Anae
Replacements (from): 16 Daniel Penca, 17 Daniel Palmer, 18 Tetera Faulkner, 19 Adam Campbell, 20 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 21 Chris Harkins, 22 Dan Robinson, 23 Jeremy Su’a, 24 Blair Connor, 25 Peter Betham, 26 John Grant
Wales: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Jimmy Norris, 13 Tom Williams, 12 Rhys Williams, 11 Leigh Halfpenny, 10 Gareth Owen, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Sam Warburton (captain), 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Lloyd Phillips, 5 Josh Turnbull, 4 Nathan White, 3 Sam Hobbs, 2 Ben Roberts, 1 Ryan Bevington
Replacements (from): 16 Huw Dowden, 17 Lloyd Elliott, 18 Phil Price, 19 Haydn Pugh, 20 Jevon Groves, 21 Jonathan Griffiths, 22 Tom Edwards, 23 Jason Tovey, 24 Gruffydd Jones, 25 Nick Harwood, 26 James Egan
Referee: Phillip Bosch (South Africa)
Touch judges: Matt Stanish (New Zealand), Laifaga Unasa (Samoa)
France vs England, 43-17
France claimed fifth place in Division A at the IRB Under-19 World Championship 2007 with an emphatic 43-17 win over England at Shaw’s Bridge, Belfast, a repeat of last year’s third place play-off that England won.
Both sides were aiming to make up for the disappointment of missing out on the semi-finals and it was France who began the strongest.
France’s flyhalf Mathieu Belie spotted a gap outside his opposite number, took it and had space to spare as he touched down in the corner, before he added the conversion.
A second try soon followed. After England were punished for killing the ball illegally France opted for a line-out and after a maul flank Laurent Thuery dived over the line and touched down under pressure. Again Belie converted.
England hit back with a try through centre Alex Tait who, after good work by the forwards, took the ball short and bundled over the line.
France immediately responded when centre Mathieu Bastareaud punched through the first wave of English defence and despite tackle attempts from David Smith and Adam Greendale, had enough momentum to get over the line.
England scrumhalf Richard Bolt then made it three tries in six minutes to bring his team back into contention. He box kicked into the French 22 where both Bastareaud and fullback Cedric Coll misjudged the bounce and Bolt’s bravery paid off as he touched down under pressure.
Bastareaud got the scoring started in the second half when he crossed the line after two minutes and then set up Djibril Camara to increase the lead 13 minutes into the second half.
Replacement Joe Simpson grabbed a consolation try for England, but this was immediately cancelled out by an outstanding French move which was finished off by Thuery for his second of the match and more accurate conversion kicking from Belie.
Afterwards the France manager Christophe Mombet said: “We feel very happy. Today was our best game of the competition. It was what we had been looking for all through it.”
France’s captain Morgan Parra said: “Position is very important against any England team. We kept the ball very well today, which is good as England are very good at stealing the ball.”
England captain Hugo Ellis said: “There were patches were we put a few phases together but on the whole it was a pretty disappointing game. They had a great pick-‘n-go game, which we failed to get to grips with.”
England coach Nigel Redman said: “I think their ability to hit space hard and offload was a major difference. Our defence, up until now, has been good but we allowed them to play well today.”
Scorers:
For England:
Tries: Alex Tait, Richard Bolt, Joe Simpson
Con: Joe Simpson
For France:
Tries: Mathieu Belie, Laurent Thuery 2, Mathieu Bastareaud 2, Djibril Camara
Cons: Mathieu Belie 5
Pen: Mathieu Belie
Teams:
France: 15 Cedric Coll, 14 Erwan Berot, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Yann David, 11 Djibril Camara, 10 Mathieu Belie, 9 Morgan Parra (captain), 8 Raphael Lakafia, 7 Yohan Vivalda, 6 Laurent Thuery, 5 Jean Roidot, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Nicolas Agnesi, 2 Antonin Raffault, 1 Raphael Olive
Replacements (from): 16 Jordan Merle, 17 Arthur Joly, 18 Clement Ric, 19 Antoine Loubiere, 20 Vincent Mehn, 21 Charles Gimenez, 22 Maxime Machenaud, 23 Adrien Tomas, 24 Bastien Fitte, 25 Adam Jaulhac, 26 Louis Madaule
England: 15 David Smith, 14 Miles Benjamin, 13 Alex Tait, 12 Gareth Griffiths, 11 Noah Cato, 10 Adam Greendale, 9 Richard Bolt, 8 Hugo Ellis (captain), 7 Andrew Saull, 6 Jonathan Fisher, 5 Matthew Cox, 4 Benjamin Thomas, 3 Alex Corbisiero, 2 Scott Freer, 1 Jack Steadman
Replacements (from): 16 Joe Williams, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Billy Moss, 19 Tom Denton, 20 Daniel Pointon, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Greg King, 23 Tom Lozides, 24 Tom Bedford, 25 Gregor Gillanders, 26 Garth Dew
Referee: David Keane (Ireland)
Touch judges: Peter Ferguson (Ireland), Sarah Corrigan (Australia)
Samoa vs Argentina, 13-12
Samoa claimed seventh place in Division A at the IRB Under-19 World Championship 2007 after Argentinian replacement Ignacio Poet Belmonte missed a late conversion to see his side lose 13-12 at Shaw’s Bridge.
Replacement Facundo Corimayo scored with only a matter of minutes remaining in the match to bring Argentina to within a point, and while Belmonte’s conversion appeared to be on target to snatch victory, it drifted wide of the upright to break Argentinian hearts.
Belmonte himself had made the break down the right wing that led to the score before seeking support inside him. A series of tapped penalties followed as Argentine pressure told, before Corimayo scored his side’s second try of the match.
The seventh place play-off had begun evenly with both sides appearing tentative and Samoa missing the presence of their injured full back and goal kicker Titi Jnr Esau. It was the Pacific Islanders though, who opened the scoring first.
It may have taken 15 minutes for the first score, but some sustained pressure inside the Argentinean 22 eventually resulted in a penalty, which Samoan captain and scrumhalf Alatasi Tupou slotted between the posts.
Samoa increased their seven minutes later following a well-taken David Masoe try. The wing was involved early on in breaking out of defence and it was Masoe, after numerous forward drives, who took the ball short and converted from close range.
Argentina’s drive for what would be only their second victory shone through as centre Juan Pablo Socino took the ball up well, dummied an offload to the support outside him and instead looked inside and found flank Marcus Insua, who crossed after 28 minutes.
Nicolas Andres kicked the conversion, but it was Samoa who held an 8-7 lead at half-time. Within three minutes of the restart this lead had been extended following another try orchestrated by some great work by fly half Salevi Leota.
He used centre Thretton Palamo effectively to punch holes in the South American Under-19 champions’ defence, with hooker Atenai Ali eventually going over for the try that gave Samoa a 13-7 advantage.
Samoa appeared confident of the victory, but some handling errors on their part allowed Argentina to claw their way into the match with Corimayo’s try. The Pacific Islanders though breathed a sigh of relief as Belmonte missed the conversion and they held on for victory.
The seventh place finish for Samoa is an improvement from last year, when they were placed 10th on their Division A debut. But for Argentina, eighth is one place lower than they finished in 2006 and a disappointed end to a tournament which had promised much from the South Americans.
Afterwards the Samoan captain Alatasi Tupou said: “I have to thank God for this tournament, it’s been a highlight for all the team, especially to play five games against such good teams.”
Argentina captain Belisario Agulla said: “We should have capitalised on the indiscipline by Samoa and that’s something we’ve had to face not only today but in other matches too. A defeat is always hard to take, but we could have won today.”
Argentina coach Patricio Noriega said: “We came here to win the game and we played with a lot of speed, which is what we wanted, but apart from that there’s not much we can take away.”
Scorers:
For Argentina:
Tries: Marcos Insua, Facundo Corimayo
Con: Nicolas Andres
For Samoa:
Tries: David Masoe, Atenai Aii
Pen: Alatasi Tupou
Teams:
Samoa: 15Faialaga Afamasaga, 14 David Masoe, 13 Fualaga Pemita, 12 Thretton Palamo, 11 Jonathan Faletoese, 10 Salevi Leota , 9 Alatasi Tupou (captain), 8 Richard Muagutitia, 7 Afa Aiono, 6 Seti Tafua, 5 Rowley Tofa, 4 Maselino Paulino, 3 Kalem Chan Boon, 2 Atenai Aii, 1 Siaosi Iona
Replacements (from): 16 Siologa Leota, 17 Anetelea Lalotoa, 18 Davidson Tavita, 19 Misioka Timoteo, 20 Ikoke Solomona, 21 Tenina Sauileoge, 22 Peniamina Malaga, 23 Seti Talalelei, 24 Tuavae Pati
Argentina: 15Belisario Agulla, 14 Nicolas Andres, 13 Juan Pablo Socino, 12 Juan Pablo Estelles, 11 Diego Palma, 10 Matias Thomas, 9 , 8 Lisandro Ahaulli de Chazal, 7 Guido Lofiego, 6 Marcos Insua, 5 Jorge Hill Basilio, 4 Francisco Panessi, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Roberto Tejerizo, 1 Javier Perez
Replacements (from): 16 Ignacio di Santi, 17 Jeronimo Negroto, 18 Facundo Corimayo, 19 Cristian Etchart, 20 Nicolas Sanchez, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Guillermo Roan, 23 Federico Durba, 24 Manuel Trebucq , 25 Ignacio Poet Belmonte, 26 Juan Mangione
Referee: James Bolabiu (Fiji)
Touch judges: Phil Smith (Canada), Alan Falzone (Italy)
Ireland vs Scotland, 34-0
Ireland saved their best performance of the tournament for their final match against Scotland and deserved their 34-0 win at Ravenhill to finish in ninth place in Division A at the IRB Under-19 World Championship 2007.
Weather conditions were ideal for running rugby and the host nation were able to move the ball well and scored five tries to end the tournament on a high in front of their home crowd.
Ireland gave Scotland an early warning of what was to come when a high kick was gathered by wing Alan Gaughan and he sped out of his 22, linked with flank and captain Paul Ryan but his pass to fullback Adam Craig was fumbled.
The hosts threatened to score first when flyhalf Scott Deasy broke out of defence and linked with centres Jamie Smith and Eoin O’Malley to release Gaughan, but Scotland pair Murray Allan and Lee Jones were on hand to stop him.
Ireland opened the scoring on nine minutes. The ball was passed left and No.8 Kieran Essex made a sniping run before passing to Ryan to continue the move. Ryan returned the pass to Essex and he crossed for the opening points.
The Scots were unable to settle and the loss of influential captain and flank Fraser McKenzie was a major blow, although his replacement Kevin Bryce went on to have a solid game and was unfortunate not to score at the end of the first half.
Half an hour into the first half Ireland added another try, when Smith crossed the line, with Deasy adding the conversion for a 12-0 half time lead.
Deasy stretched the lead further early in the second half with a penalty and the 15-0 lead gave Ireland the confidence to run the ball more and with great success, resulting in three more tries.
Good forward pressure following a lineout and drive allowed O’Malley to exploit the space and he ran in for a try that Deasy converted.
Six minutes later, Scotland tried to run the ball out of their own half but Deasy intercepted on the 10-metre line to race in under the posts. He converted yet again to extend the lead to 29-0.
Tommy Seymour, making his first start in the tournament, finished off an excellent display by Ireland with a last-minute try.
Afterwards Ireland’s captain Paul Ryan said: “That is the game we had wanted to play all season when we go through our team patterns. We were very critical of ourselves for going outside the game plans in previous games.
“We also wanted to try to cut out the errors and we trained really hard on certain aspects of our game before this match.
“Today we stuck to our game plan and it just shows you what we can do. We are all just ecstatic in the changing room to have won the game so well. We have finished on a high and we know we were unfortunate with some of the teams we got in the first phase, but three wins out of five is not a bad return at the end of the day.
“Our passes were sticking today and that was one of the things we had talked about sorting out before the game. It was also satisfying to keep a clean sheet, particularly against a good physical Scottish side.”
Scorers:
For Ireland:
Tries: Kieran Essex, Jamie Smith, Eoin O’Malley, Scott Deasy, Tommy Seymour
Cons: Scott Deasy 3
Pen: Scott Deasy
Teams:
Scotland: 15 Murray Allan, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Chris Kinloch, 12 Stephen McColl, 11 Tom Bury, 10 Ruairidh Jackson, 9 Mathew Heeks, 8 Alexandre Wukovits, 7 Steven Burton, 6 Fraser McKenzie (captain), 5 Josh Brown, 4 Neale Patrick, 3 Joe Stafford, 2 Adrian Duncan, 1 Gary Strain
Replacements (from): 16 Ralph McInally, 17 Angus Dixon, 18 Lewis Niven, 19 Craig Charters, 20 Kevin Bryce, 21 Ross Samson, 22 James Murray, 23 Harry Duthie, 24 Redha Guedroudj, 25 Craig Simmonds, 26 Ruairidh Bonner
Ireland: 15 Adam Craig, 14 Alan Gaughan, 13 Jamie Smith, 12 Eoin O’Malley, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Scott Deasy, 9 Harry McAleese, 8 Kieran Essex, 7 Paul Ryan (captain), 6 Jason Harris-Wright, 5 Ian Nagle, 4 David Foley, 3 Patrick McCabe, 2 Stephen Douglas, 1 Paul Karayiannis
Replacements (from): 16 Michael Sherry, 17 Ian Leonard, 18 Matthew Nelson, 19 Brian Cawley, 20 Patrick Mallon, 21 Kris Greene, 22 Niall Morris, 25 Murray Kinsella, 26 Rajan Reilly
Referee: Dean Richards (England)
Touch judges: Javier Mancuso (Argentina), Kyosuke Toda (Japan)
Fiji vs Japan, 60-12
Fiji scored ten tries to beat Japan 60-12 and claim 11th place in Division A at the IRB Under-19 World Championship 2007.
Fiji opened the scoring in their first attack into Japan’s half. Flank Jese Cirikisuva burst through the defence to touchdown behind the posts and Ratu Natubavivi Kasami added the conversion to give Fiji an early seven point lead.
Fiji dominated the opening half and added further tries from captain John Vugakoto, who used his pace to exploit an overlap, whilst Henry Speight scored two before the break. Seremaia Tagicakibau scored both conversions for a comfortable 24-0 half time lead.
The second half began with Fiji quickly reasserting their dominance as Vuga Tagicakibau pounced on a charged down kick after two minutes for Fiji’s fifth try.
Japan responded well and opened their account with a try from Jamie Blackie who was driven over following a driving maul and a conversion by Mizuki Yanagihara.
Speight capped his tournament by crossing the line twice more with Waqabaca Kotobaluva and Samuela Vumisa also scoring and Tevita Taga adding a conversion.
Japan added a late consolation through Blackie, who showed his pace to out strip the Fiji cover and continued to attack the Fijian line, but it was too late for Japan.
Fiji added to Japan’s woes with a 10th and final try right on full time. Vugakoto sped down the wing and past Japan’s cover defence to score behind the posts.
Isikeli Vuruna added the conversion to give Fiji a comfortable 60-12 victory and earn them their second win in from their debut year in Division A.
Afterwards the Fijian coach Josua Tokula said: “I am very proud of the boys today. Their performance was fantastic and they did their country proud. We were promoted to the A division only last year and we have built a good platform for our next teams to build on by staying in the top division.”
Fiji captain John Vugakoto said: “The boys performed very well today, we were concentrating on getting points on the board, but it was nice to be able to score 10 tries against a strong team like Japan. This tournament has been fantastic, we have been able to test ourselves against the best players in the world and also have been able to see a new part of the world.”
Japan coach Misutake Hagimoto said: “We are really disappointed with today’s result. We have not improved throughout the five matches of the tournament but we will try to learn from the experience.”
Japan captain Tappei Higashide said: “I am very disappointed, we really wanted to win for Japan, but just couldn’t get things right.”
Scorers:
For Fiji:
Tries: Jese Cirikisuva, John Vugakoto 2, Henry Speight 4, Vuga Tagicakibau, Waqabaca Kotobalavu, Samuela Vunisa
Cons: Ratu Natubavivi Kasami, Seremaia Tagicakibau 2, Tevita Taga 2
For Japan:
Tries: Jamie Blackie
Con: Mizuki Yanagihara
Teams:
Japan: 15 Takaya Iida, 14 Takamasa Okubo, 13 Naoki Katchi, 12 Yasutaka Sasakura, 11 Naoki Chono, 10 Mizuki Yanagihara, 9 Tappei Higashide (captain), 8 Shohei Maekawa, 7 Jumpei Ohira, 6 Hiraoki Sugimoto, 5 Norimasa Kuribayashi, 4 Keisuke Masuda, 3 Koichi Nitta, 2 Ryosuke Inoue, 1 Masataka Mikami
Replacements (from): 16 Futoshi Mori, 17 Masaru Furutate, 18 Masahiko Nakagawa, 19 Eiri Nakada, 20 Ryo Morita, 21 , 22 Katsuyuki Sakai, 23Yuichiro Ogihara, 24 Jamie Blackie
Ryo Morita
Fiji: 15Seremaia Tagicakibau, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Isikeli Vuruna, 12 Rakuita Vakalalabure, 11 William Saukuru, 10 Ratu Natubavivi Kasami, 9 Vuga Tagicakibau, 8 John Vugakoto (captain), 7 Waqabaca Kotobalavu, 6 Jese Cirikisuva, 5 Tevita Tuiloa, 4 Temo Vakaloloma, 3 Jack Lalai, 2 Peni Kilibau, 1 Serpepeli Qaranivalu
Replacements (from): 16 Saula Qalomai, 17 Samuela Vunisa, 18 Manoa Driu, 19 Josese Bolabasaga Niutini, 20 Mesake Sotiakivanuayawa, 21 Tevita Taga, 22 Kini Murimurivalu, 23 Seru Baleinatauba, 24 Uraia Vecenadavui, 25 Peni Rokodiva
Referee: Jerome Garces (France)
Touch judges: Richard Kerr (Ireland), Joao Mourinha (Portugal)
