Compiled by Ranjika Perera
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David Havili (on left) runs against the Fijian defence. All Blacks were too much for Fiji as the former won 60-13 at FMG Stadium, Waikato in Hamilton yesterday (17)[/caption]
* Manu Samoa 37-13 Tonga
Samoa beat Tonga 37-13 and they secured a spot in the 2023 Rugby World Cup on Saturday (17). It was Tonga who started the scoring in the fourth minute through a penalty from James Faiva. The next 20 minutes were dominated by Samoa who piled up 13 points. Initially, Henry Taefu bisected the uprights twice for Samoa and in the 26th minute they crossed over for the first try.
A long pass from Rodney Iona gave winger Ed Fidow enough space to score in the corner. Taefu added the extras. Two minutes before the break, Samoa scored the second after they attacked from their own half and another long pass to Neria Fomai on the wing who beat a couple of tackles, before offloading to try scorer Jonathan Taumateine.
* All Blacks 60-13 Fiji
All Blacks put together a dominating second-half performance to beat Fiji 60-13 at Hamilton. Fiji took the early lead with a penalty from Ben Volavola. The Fijians were on top until the 15th minute when they conceded their first try. David Havili made the initial line-break from the line-out and offloaded to Seevu Reece who touched down under the post.
Two penalties followed from either side in the following ten minutes. Shortly afterwards, two tries from winger Reece saw him complete his hat-trick. First, it came when Fiji conceded a knock on and All Blacks worked the ball from the scrum for Reece to touch down in the corner. The hat-trick try came when Richie Mo’unga took a quick tap, caught Fiji off-guard and Reece pounced on. They found the whitewash again through Ardie Savea to finish the half on a high.
Australia 33-30 France
A 14-man Wallabies beat France 33-30 to clinch the decider of their three-Test series at the Suncorp Stadium. The French opened the scoring with a penalty from Melvyn Jaminet. Wallabies probably got off to the worst possible start in the game when they lost Narika Koroibete who was shown red for his tackle on the French Skipper. It paved way for France’s first try.
Scrum-half Batiste Couillido scored from the 5-metre line-out after beating his counterpart on the try-line. Wallabies responded straight away through Tait McDermott, who collected the offload after Skipper Micheal Hooper made the initial line break. Jaminet added three points for the French but Wallabies struck again with a try from Noah Lolesio, through an interception and a successful penalty, a few moments later.
French were feeling the heat and they took back the lead against the run of play when Cameron Woki jumped over the ruck to touchdown. Minutes before lemons, Lolesio slotted in a penalty to make it 20-20.