Samoa beat Fiji 8-3 in a low-scoring match in Apia on Sunday to win the opening game of this season’s expanded Pacific Nations Cup.
Open-side flanker Alapasa Cordtz scored the only try of the match. His teammate, Gavin Williams, and Fiji fullback Taniela Rawaqa traded penalties.
The teams were due to play each other on June 9 but the match was brought forward to avoid clashing with Fiji’s scheduled test against Australia in Perth.
Japan and Tonga are also involved in the six-team tournament, along with New Zealand’s Junior All Blacks and Australia A.
Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and Japan have qualified for the World Cup while the Australia A and Junior All Blacks players will be hoping to force their way into the Wallaby and New Zealand squads.
The Pacific Nations Cup was established last year after the International Rugby Board initiated a global strategic programme to try and help narrow the widening gap between the haves and have-nots of world rugby, which undermined the 2003 World Cup in Australia. — Reuters