Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup’s Six Key Takeaways from Round One 2024

Below are six salient observations from the first round:

EDDIE’S UP AND RUNNING

After home losses to England, Georgia, and Italy, Eddie Jones finally scores at his fourth attempt in his second stint as head coach of the Japan squad, defeating Canada. Following their running rugby mentality, the Brave Blossoms scored 38 points in the first half of the Vancouver match, averaging more than a point per minute, before Canada was able to register a point.

In the first half, Japan continuously moved the point of attack at a fast tempo, exemplifying the “Chosoku Rugby” (ultra-fast rugby) that Jones has spoken about. They removed the ball from the ruck throughout the whole of the game in three seconds, or less than 80% of the time — an amazing percentage by test standards. Although Canada put up a strong fight in the second half, Japan, who was rated higher, had too much of a point advantage to allow any doubt about the outcome to exist.

STAR TURN DEARNS

Even though Michael Leitch’s name wasn’t on the Japan roster, a forward who was born in New Zealand but became a naturalized citizen and has lived in Japan since he was 14 decided to steal the show in Vancouver with an incredible performance.

Giant second-row Warner Dearns, who is still only 22 years old, finished his 80 minutes of work with a couple of tries after stealing the lineout ball, making some tremendous hits, and breaking the line. Given his current form, one would anticipate that he would play for Japan for at least as long as Leitch, the country’s second-most-capped player, 35.

CANADA’S TWIN THREATS

Both the comeback by Canada after trailing 38–7 at the half and the play of twin brothers Talon and Takoda McMullin should be encouraging. In the second half, inside center Talon scored his maiden test try for Canada after receiving a quick ball from Andrew Quattrin and making a brilliant move to get past the Japanese defense.

As with any good twins, Takoda mimicked his brother’s feat when he entered the game in the last 20 minutes, even though his initial test attempt ended in a very different manner. The substitute winger did a fantastic job of getting to the ball first and applying enough downward pressure with one hand to satisfy the TMO that he had grounded it correctly when chasing a dinked kick into the in-goal area.

CLINICAL FIJI

Samoa had a larger percentage of the territory and possession in the first game compared to Fiji, but they were well behind in terms of conversions. Fiji scored tries (six from 13) almost every other visit into the opponent 22, while Samoa only managed one five-pointer on the seven times they were in the “red zone,” scoring an average of 3.23 points per visit.

When Pisi Leilua, the try-scorer for Samoa, was sin-binned in the 53rd minute for bringing back a player without the ball, Fiji showed especially brutality. They overcame their Pacific counterparts by scoring 14 points through two successful attempts during this time. What a masterstroke of power!