Tonga 37 Fiji 39

Fiji winger Manueli Tiko grabbed a hat-trick of tries as his side ran in a total of five scores to edge out Tonga 39-37 in the Epson Cup Pacific Rim match in front of a capacity crowd in the Tongan capital Nuku'alofa.

Fiji led 29-13 at half-time but had to fight off a strong Tongan second-half comeback with tries from lock Kuli Faletau, Katilimoni Tu'ipulotu and Tevita Tiueti who got his second of the game.

However, a try from Samisoni Rabaka meant Fiji keep their hopes of snatching the 1999 Epson Cup title from the grasp of Japan.  Tonga now need to beat Samoa at home next week and also score four tries to gain the vital bonus point.

The results mean Tonga are without a win in this year's tournament and are bottom of the table on points difference.

The Teams:

Tonga:  1 Puku Faletau, 2 Fe'ao Vunipola, 3 Ngalu Taufo'ou, 4 Isi Fatani, 5 Kuli Faletau, 6 David Edwards, 7 Ben Hur Kivalu, 8 Kisione Ahota'e'iloa, 9 Sililo Martens, 10 'Elisi Vunipola, 11 David Tiueti, 12 Siua Taumalolo, 13 Salesi Finau (c), 14 Semisi Faka'osi'folau, 15 Sateki Tuipulotu
Reserves:  Fepiko Tatafu, Kati Tu'ipulotu, Manu Vunipola

Fiji:  1 Niko Qoro, 2 Greg Smith (c), 3 Joeli Veitayaki, 4 Emori Katalau, 5 Simon Raiwalui, 6 Apisai Naevo, 7 Koli Sewabu, 8 Ilivasi Tamanivalu Tabua, 9 Sami Rabaka Nasagavesi, 10 Nicky Little, 11 Fero Lasagavibau, 12 Viliame Satala, 13 Waisake Sotutu, 14 Imanueli Tikomaimakogai, 15 Alfred Uluinayau
Reserves:  Waisale Serevi, Lawrence Little, Dan Rouse, Ifereimi Tawake

Attendance:  10000
Referee:  Aiolupo a.

Points Scorers:

Tonga
Tries:  Tiueti T.L. 1, Ahota'e'iloa K. 1, Faka'osi'folau S. 1, Faletau K. 1
Conv:  Tuipulotu S. 4
Pen K.:  Tuipulotu S. 3

Fiji
Tries:  Lasagavibau F.T. 1, Rabaka Nasagavesi S. 1, Tikomaimakogai I. 3
Conv:  Serevi W.T. 1, Little N.T. 3
Pen K.:  Little N.T. 2

Samoa 27 United States 20

Samoa scored four tries but threw away several other chances through lack of composure with the try line open during their 27-20 win over the United States Eagles in a Pacific Rim clash at Apia Park Saturday.

Samoa led 14-3 at half-time in their first ever test against the Eagles thanks to converted tries by centre George Leaupepe and winger Brian Lima.

Though relieved to win coach Bryan Williams said:  "I think we made hard work of it.  We bombed lots of tries."

"And I felt a bit sorry for our wingers there today because they were thirsting for work and for one reason or another we didn't give them enough good ball," said Williams.

Lima worked hard on defence and in looking for opportunities, like fellow winger Afato Sooalo on the other flank, slicing at midfield to set up Leaupepe's try and engineering one for himself with his characteristic step and speed.

But mishandling and rushed, unthinking passes cost the Samoans more points as well as creating stoppages that made it easier for the Eagles to compete at the resulting slower pace.

"There were times when we could have just delayed our pass and put people into space but too often we tried to throw that 50-50 ball before it was necessary," said Williams.

"You know there were probably five, six tries went begging.  It could have been a really comprehensive victory by 50 or 60 points."

The Eagles' scrum was in constant trouble from the Samoans, but recovered well from a screwing scrum to drive over for a try.

They also exposed defence weaknesses around the fringes taking advantage of one such gap for replacement forward Juan Grobler to run in a fine solo try.

But the Eagles also had their share of handling errors which led to several promising moves breaking down.

The Samoan backs showed glimpses of their abilities with strong running notably by Va'aiga Tuigamala who took the field to replace injured John Schuster early in the game.

The Teams:

Samoa:  1 Fosi Pala'amo, 2 Tani Fuga, 3 Brendan Reidy, 4 Lio Falaniko, 5 Lama Tone, 6 Craig Glendinning, 7 Sene Ta'ala, 8 Pat Lam (c), 9 Stephen So'oilao, 10 Stephen Bachop, 11 Brian Lima, 12 George Leaupepe, 13 John Schuster, 14 Afato So'oalo, 15 Mike Umaga
Reserves:  Inga Tuigamala

United States:  1 Ray Lehner, 2 Tom Billups, 3 George Sucher, 4 Luke Gross, 5 Alec Parker, 6 Dan Lyle (c), 7 Richard Tardits, 8 Shaun Paga, 9 Britt Howard, 10 Mark Williams, 11 Andre Blom, 12 Tini Saulala, 13 Mark Scharrenberg, 14 Brian Hightower, 15 Vaea Anitoni
Reserves:  Chip Curtis, Kevin Dalzell, Juan Grobler, Dave Hodges, Bill LeClerc, Tasi Mo'unga

Referee:  Ian Haideley (Canada).

Points Scorers:

Samoa
Tries:  Leaupepe G.E. 1, Lima B.P. 2, So'oalo A. 1
Conv:  Bachop S.J. 2
Pen K.:  Bachop S.J. 1

United States
Tries:  Grobler J. 1, Lyle D.J. 1
Conv:  Dalzell K. 2
Pen K.:  Dalzell K. 1, Williams M.A. 1

United States 31 Japan 47

Japan finished their 1999 Epson Cup in style as Terunori Masuho scored three tries in the first half and Daisuke Ohata added two more to help Japan to a 47-31 win over the United States.

Japan completed the six-team, round-robin tournament with a 4-1 mark, losing only to Fiji.  The US team, 2-1 like Fiji, still has away matches at Canada and Samoa.

The hosts, playing before 3,900 here Saturday in Hawaii's first international rugby match, trailed by 20 points before Brian Hightower and Tom Billups scored tries to pull within 37-31 with 12 minutes to play.

Keji Hirose's penalty goal and Ohata's try at the final whistle sealed the victory for Japan.

"Credit Japan.  They outhustled us and deserved to win," US captain Dan Lyle said.  "We never got going on defense and it showed."

The US Eagles took a 10-6 lead on Kevin Dalzell's 16th-minute try before Masuho's three tries within 16 minutes put the visitors ahead to stay, although Mark Scharrenberg's try closed the half-time gap to 27-17.

The Teams:

United States:  1 Ray Lehner, 2 Tom Billups, 3 George Sucher, 4 Philippe Farner, 5 Luke Gross, 6 Dave Hodges, 7 Richard Tardits, 8 Dan Lyle (c), 9 Kevin Dalzell, 10 David Niu, 11 Vaea Anitoni, 12 Juan Grobler, 13 Mark Scharrenberg, 14 Brian Hightower, 15 Kurt Shuman
Reserves:  Kirk Khasigian, Bill LeClerc, Tini Saulala, Jason Walker, Mark Williams

Japan:  1 Shin Hasegawa, 2 Masahiro Kunda, 3 Naoto Nakamura, 4 Naoya Okubo, 5 Hiroyuki Tanuma, 6 Greg Smith, 7 Yasunori Watanabe, 8 Jamie Joseph, 9 Wataru Murata, 10 Keiji Hirose, 11 Terunori Masuho, 12 Andrew McCormick (c), 13 Yukio Motoki, 14 Daisuke Ohata, 15 Tsutomu Matsuda
Reserves:  Jyunji Hiratsuka, Takeomi Ito, Masaaki Sakata

Referee:  Tonga e.

Points Scorers

United States
Tries:  Billups T.W. 1, Dalzell K. 1, Hightower B. 1, Scharrenberg M.A. 1
Conv:  Dalzell K. 2, Williams M.A. 2
Pen K.:  Dalzell K. 1

Japan
Tries:  Masuho T. 3, Ohata D. 2, Smith G. 1
Conv:  Hirose K. 4
Pen K.:  Hirose K. 3