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Malakai Ravulo offloads to Tevita Cavubati as he is tackled during Fiji’s 27-22 Pacific Nations Cup victory over Japan in Toronto on Wednesday. Photos: AFP
SportRugby

Taulafo try propels Samoa past Canada and into Pacific Nations final against Fiji

Samoa’s Sakaria Taulafo dived on a loose ball for a last-minute try to give his side a 21-20 victory over Canada in their Pacific Nations Cup clash in Toronto on Wednesday, setting up a rematch against Fiji in the final.

Rugby World Cup 2015
Reuters
Reuters
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Samoa’s Sakaria Taulafo dived on a loose ball for a last-minute try to give his side a 21-20 victory over Canada in their Pacific Nations Cup clash in Toronto on Wednesday (Thursday HK time), setting up a rematch against Fiji in the final.

The Fijians were lucky to escape with a 27-22 victory over Japan despite being reduced to 13 men for the final minutes of their clash, also in Toronto.

Both lock Leone Nakarawa and prop Campese Mafu were sin-binned for deliberately collapsing a strong Japanese rolling maul.

Fiji had battled back from a 9-3 deficit before they scored three quick tries before half-time, but managed to hold off a strong and controlled Japanese forward effort in the second half to set up a final against Samoa next Monday.
Paul Perez powers through a tackle from Canada’s Nick Blevins as Manu Samoa snatch a last-gasp 21-20 victory to reach the Pacific Nations Cup final.
The two Pacific sides battled to a 30-30 draw in their clash earlier in the six-nation tournament which is providing the teams with valuable preparation for the Rugby World Cup in England and Wales in September-October.

Canada, who were up 13-3 at half-time, had been leading their clash against the ninth-ranked Samoans when James Pritchard converted a try that gave the North Americans a 20-16 lead with the clock winding down.

Samoa then drove down the field, and while they had their line-out stolen the ball came loose when two Canadians collided, with Taulafo scoring the match-clinching try.

Tonga beat the United States 33-19 in the early match in Toronto to set up a clash against Japan for third place.

The North American sides will play off for fifth and sixth.
Tonga’s Telusa Veainu runs in a try against the USA in their final pool match in the Pacific Nations Cup. Tonga beat the Americans 33-19 to finish runners-up in pool A behind Samoa.

Pacific Nations Cup final pool standings (updated July 30)

Pool A

Pos Team P W D L PF PA Pts
1 Samoa 3 2 1 0 72 66 11
2 Tonga 3 2 0 1 83 67 8
3 Japan 3 1 0 2 60 56 6

Pool B

Pos Team P W D L PF PA Pts
1 Fiji 3 2 1 0 87 74 11
2 USA 3 1 0 2 58 72 5
3 Canada 3 0 0 3 44 69 1
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