Japan and Fiji will square off on Saturday the 27th of July in the opening round of the 2019 Pacific Nations Cup.
Japan will be looking for a positive start to their World Cup preparations when they take on a Fijian side who head into the Pacific Nations Cup off the back of an impressive showing in their two-game series against the Maori All Blacks.
Japan v Fiji
Saturday 27 July
Kaimishi Recovery Memorial Stadium
07:50
To Win (80 Mins)
Japan 3/1
Draw 25/1
Fiji 1/4
Handicap
Japan (+9.5) 17/20
Fiji (-9.5) 17/20
Japan
Jamie Joseph’s men will face a stern test this coming weekend with the Flying Fijians coming to town.
Joseph’s has been hard at work with his squad since the turn of the year holding a number of Japanese internationals back from Super Rugby duty with the Sunwolves and keeping them in training camps. As such, his side hasn’t played that much rugby this term which means the Pacific Nations Cup, as well as their World Cup warm-up games, will be crucial to them hitting the ground running when the World Cup kicks off in late September.
While they haven’t played much rugby this term, Japan will field a very experienced side this coming weekend with skipper Michael Leitch, fly-half Yu Tamura and veteran front-rower Shota Horie all expected to form part of the matchday 23.
While the core of Joseph’s squad consists of veterans, there are some youngsters to keep an eye out for including Ataata Moeakiola, who made his debut for the Waikato Chiefs this year.
Fiji
The Fijians have enjoyed a solid start to their 2019 international season beating the Maori All Blacks, for the first time in 57 years, out in Suva. They were unable to follow up the 17-point victory the following week in New Zealand, however, as their weakened squad went down 26-17.
We can expect the Fijians to revert to their strongest squad this coming weekend as they are likely to play their second-stringers against the USA later n in the tournament. This means we’ll see European based players such as Semi Radradra and Vereniki Goneva take to the field this coming weekend. The former missed out on the two-game series against the Maori All Blacks and will be eager to make a mark this weekend.
While these fixtures are essentially warm-up World Cup games, Fiji will be extremely keen to win the Pacific Nations Cup as they are the current title holders and have won five of the 12 editions of the tournament.
Verdict: Fiji (-9.5) 17/20
This should be a cracker of a game with both sides possessing some talented backs. The Fijians are the better-prepared team headed into this one and I reckon that will show on the scoreboard. My money is on the visitors taking it by between 10 and 12 points.
