Fiji 41 Japan 13

Fiji retained their hopes of reaching the play-offs when they beat Japan 41-13 in their Rugby World Cup Group B match at the Dairy Farmers Stadium in Townsville.  Fiji now face Scotland in what will be a decisive game in Sydney on November 1.

Both Fiji and Japan got off to a nervous start in what was being billed as a highlight to an otherwise drab opening round of matches.  But Fijian Sevens master Waisale Serevi, starting Thursday's game at fly-half, helped settle his side down by putting them in front with an early penalty.

Japan began to settle down soon after as well and surprisingly it was up front, an area that has been a weakness for the Cherry Blossoms, where they took control.  Fiji coach Mac McCallion's decision to put monster prop Joeli Veitayaki on the bench was proving to be a mistake.

Serevi, who was picked in an effort to ignite the Fijian attack, left the field injured after kicking a second penalty and this compounding the Islanders problems.

Then when Japanese fly-half Andrew Miller leveled the score with a huge drop-goal from the half-way line the game was on.

Nicky Little, who replaced Serevi, had an almost immediate impact on the game.

While Japan looked to be the more structured of the two sides and enjoyed the most possession thanks to their forwards, it was Fiji who did the most damage on attack.

Centre Seru Rabeni opened up the Japanese defence like a can of beans in the 21st minute and after linking up with Little the Cherry Blossoms were stretched very thin on defence.  When Little was stopped just short, he had five supporters to choose from and fullback Norman Ligairi was on hand to dot the ball down.

Japan continued to show enterprise on attack, but they failed to make the final pass stick and it was here that Fiji stole the game away from the Asian team.

The two Fijian wingers Vilimoni Delasau and Aisea Tuilevu paired up to score the Islanders' second try, when Delasau got hold of a loose ball deep inside his own half and sped away down the touch-line.  Despite a poor pass from Delasau, Tuilevu managed to scoop the ball up and then danced his way through the defenders for the try.

Japan, however, struck back before the break when No.8 Takeomi Ito broke off the back of the scrum and charge into the Fiji half, popped it away in the tackle to skipper Takuro Miuchi, who in turn managed to find Miller out wide for the try.  Miller closed the gap to within three with the conversion.

Unfortunately for the Japanese, the second-half would tell a different story.

Fiji began the second-half with far more verve than they had shown in the first and immediately Japan found their defence under pressure.  Fiji would have added another try to their tally less than a minute after the restart, but No.8 Alifereti Doviverata could only shake his head when he bulldozed his way over three defenders only to drop the ball over the line.

Tuilevu made no mistake ten minutes later, however, when he scorched his way down the right wing leaving the Japanese in his wake to pick up his second try of the night.  Little extended the lead for the Islanders with the conversion.

Japan continued to squander their chances with vital handling errors and a brilliant piece of individual play by Ligairi effectively ended the Cherry Blossoms' challenge.

The Fiji fullback crossed for arguably the most spectacular try of the tournament with a chip and chase from 70m out.  The ball somehow sat just inside the sideline.  Ligairi took advantage of a bewildered Japanese defence, who presumably expected the ball to go out.

The flying fullback kicked ahead again, chased and then scooped the ball up superbly to go over for the try.

Man of the match:  For Japan, Andrew Miller continued to impress and No.8 Takeomi Ito was a tireless performer all night, but the award would have to go to Fiji winger Aisea Tuilevu, who proved to be the difference between the two sides, whether he was attacking out wide or delivering some bone-jarring tackles on an unlucky Japanese ball carrier.

Moment of the match:  Andrew Miller's massive drop came close, but Fiji's Norman Ligairi's individual brilliance with a phenomenal chip and chase was a great way to end a fantastic night for the fullback.

Villain of the match:  There was very little niggle and despite Japan's poor finishing on the night this award has to go to referee Nigel Williams for some very poor decisions against both teams, but none more so than when he failed to notice that Andrew Miller dotted down behind his own goal-line.  Williams made Miller play on and the move eventually resulted in a penalty against Japan.  Replays revealed Miller did indeed dot the ball down.

Yellow card:  Bill Gadolo (Fiji, 78)

The Teams:

Fiji:  1 Isaia Rasila, 2 Greg Smith, 3 Naka Seru, 4 Emori Katalau, 5 Kele Leawere, 6 Alfi Mocelutu Vuivau, 7 Koli Sewabu, 8 Alifereti Doviverata (c), 9 Sami Rabaka Nasagavesi, 10 Waisale Serevi, 11 Vilimoni Delasau, 12 Seru Rabeni, 13 Epeli Ruivadra, 14 Aisea Tuilevu, 15 Norman Ligairi
Reserves:  Vula Maimuri, Bill Gadolo, Sisa Koyamaibole, Nicky Little, Mosese Rauluni, Joeli Veitayaki, Marika Vunibaka

Japan:  1 Masahiko Toyoyama, 2 Masaaki Sakata, 3 Masahito Yamamoto, 4 Hajime Kiso, 5 Adam Parker, 6 Naoya Okubo, 7 Takuro Miuchi (c), 8 Takeomi Ito, 9 Takashi Tsuji, 10 Andy Miller, 11 Daisuke Ohata, 12 Yukio Motoki, 13 Reuben Parkinson, 14 Hirotoki Onozowa, 15 Tsutomu Matsuda
Reserves:  Masao Amino, Ryota Asano, Shin Hasegawa, Toru Kurihara, Koichi Kubo, Yuji Sonoda, George Konia

Attendance:  17269
Referee:  Williams n.

Points Scorers:

Fiji
Tries:  Ligairi N. 2, Tuilevu A. 2, Vunibaka M.D. 1
Conv:  Little N.T. 2
Pen K.:  Serevi W.T. 1, Little N.T. 3

Japan
Tries:  Miller A.J. 1
Conv:  Miller A.J. 1
Pen K.:  Miller A.J. 1
Drop G.:  Miller A.J. 1