2011 South Pacific Games - Action from Day 2

All the action from Day 2 of the 2011 Pacific Games in New Caledonia including Tournament Draw, match results and match reviews.

TOURNAMENT DRAW:

Click here to view the Tournament Draw

DAY 2 POOL SUMMARIES:

Click here to view the Day 2 Pool A Summary - Men
Click here to view the Day 2 Pool B Summary - Men
Click here to view the Day 2 Pool C Summary - Men
Click here to view the Day 2 Pool Summary - Women

RESULTS:

Match Reviews can be found below the Results Table.

MATCH REVIEWS:

Tahiti 12 v 12 Guam (Women)
Day two kicked off with the Tahiti and Guamanian women’s teams starting the day’s proceedings in earnest. The rigors of the previous day’s action seemed forgotten with the Tahitian girls making short work of the Guamanian defence in the opening minutes. A try to Eva Rupea gave the Tahitians and early lead, which seemingly sparked the Guamanians into game mode. Two quick tries to Tiffany Talada out wide allowed the Guamanians the upper hand leading into the break, much to the delight of the Guamanian supporters in the crowd.

Tahiti bounced back immediately with a try to Eliana Taiti in the corner levelling the scores. The final two minutes were played at a frantic pace as the Tahitians seemed content to take it up the middle with their apparent size advantage; however the Guamanians were equal to the task with their young guns chopping down the Tahitians at every chance. The full time whistle sounded with either team unable to break the deadlock.

Cook Islands 7 v 19 Samoa (Women)
The Cook Islanders came out firing against the Samoans, rattling the girls in blue with some fiery tackling in the opening minutes. A turnover by the Cooks mid field however gave the Samoans first points. Whilst defence was willing, poor handing by the Cooks allowed the Samoans to cross the line a second time with Maria Ausai dodging Cook defenders in the in goal area to dot down between the posts.

Better handling enabled the Cooks to pin the Samoans deep in their half for most moments in the opening minutes of the second half. A try to Teuvaniu Maui for the Cooks drew the scores closer. However a try to Taalili Iosefo with a minute remaining clinched the game for the Samoans.

New Caledonia 7 v 50 Fiji (Women)
Fiji started day two where they left off with a blockbusting display of speed and skill to notch 31 points in the first half against the home town girls from New Caledonia. Five quick tries were registered with no 4 Rusila Tamoi snaring two to stun the Caledonians.

The second half started in similar fashion with Ana Roqica scorching the side-line to dot down in the corner. Big Elina Ratauluva and Pricilla Siata joined in the scoring spree by both swatting off defenders to add their names to the long list of scorers. A consolation try to Yolaine Yengo with seconds remaining gave the Caledonian supporters some reprieve at the full time whistle.

Fiji 45 v 0 Tahiti (Men)
Team Fiji cruised into their first match of the day against the Tahitians with relative ease. Tahiti did however show some promise with ball in hand, but were unable to break the Fijian defence. The 19 nil half time score to the Fijians was considerably less than yesterday’s match, but could almost be attributed to a Fijian team going through their paces in readiness for the remaining matches of the day.

A try to Aporosa Tabulawaki in the opening seconds of the second half and an easy try up the middle by Ratu Dale Mataluvu extended the Fijian lead to 31 points. A try to Sevuloni Lutu concluded the Fijian onslaught giving the Tournament first seeds a sound 45 point win against the Tahitians.

Samoa 52 v 12 Vanuatu (Men)
Samoa scored immediately with Falemiga Selesele picking up a deflected ball from kick off. Tom Isosefo and Afa Aiono also scored from the ensuing restarts leaving the Vanuatuans gaping at the Samoans who looked in commanding form. Similar quick tries to the Samoans increased the first half deficit, but with seconds remaining before the half time whistle Antione Sablan latched onto loose ball to race away for a try.

Sablan’s try seemed to have ignited the Vanuatuans providing the inspiration for Dicky Toara to draw blood again against the Samoans. The second try sent the Vanuatuans into a frenzy to frustrate the Samoans in attack by some determined tackling. Despite losing 52 points to 12, the Vanuatuans would certainly be happy with their two tries against the former World sevens Series champions

Papua New Guinea 36 v 7 New Caledonia (Men)
After a historic win against the Niueans yesterday, the hometown heroes ran on to a riveting reception by the Caledonian crowd willing the team onto another upset. The crowd expectations however would be short lived with PNG racing in three tries before the break, to silence the deafening horns in the crowd.

The Caledonians continued to hustle the kumuls and were rewarded with a try midway in the second half. PNG proved far too strong with experience paving the way for a comfortable win 36 to 7

Papua New Guinea 12 v 15 Samoa (Women)
With the Fijians looking good for the medal finals, the next match between the PNG Girls and the Manu Sina would almost certainly determine who meets the mighty Fijians.

Without the Joana Lagana, the PNG girls would have their work cut out against the physical Samoans who would be just as determined to replay the Fijians in the medal final. The much anticipated match lived to its expectations, and was played at a devilish pace, with the Samoans drawing first blood mid way in the first half. The PNG girls hit straight back with a try of their own to level the scoreline. The ball didn’t see much airtime this time round with both teams content with straightening it up the middle with the possible offload to pry open the gaps. PNG were able to execute this successfully before the break to take the lead with a Margaret Naua try under the sticks.

Samoa came out of the sheds with a bit more poise and were able to string together enough phases to put the PNG girls on the back foot. The Manu Sina were able to score two tries in the last minutes of the match to take a well-earned win.

Fiji 71 v 0 Guam (Women)
Fiji’s women surged to a record 71 win against a Guamanian side perplexed by wave after wave of Fijian attack. The Guamanians had no answer for the medal favourites who were simply too fast and strong. With Samoa beating PNG, the Fijians will look the face their nemesis in the medal final tomorrow afternoon.

New Caledonia 33 v 5 Tahiti (Women)
New Caledonia squared off against their cousins Tahiti in a passionate match to unofficially decide the best French Pacific team of the competition. The Caledonians, who showed the biggest improvement of all teams during both days hammered the Tahitians 33 points to 5 with their superior ball skills and fitness. The Tahitians looked disinterested in the final minutes as the Caledonians powered on and will look to finish pool play on a high note against Guam.

Tokelau 12 v 5 Wallis & Futuna (Men)
Both Wallis & Futuna and Tokelau would be tending to some serious bruise treatment after the match following an extremely physical encounter between the two island teams. Both similar in stature, the conventional sevens style was put aside for some bruising business up the middle, with the ball only seeing airtime at the random offload.

With five points between the teams at the break to Tokelau's favour, both teams continued to opt for the physical approach with the Tokelauans persevering early in the second half with a try between the sticks. A consolation try at the death was however not enough overtake the tough Tokelauans.

Solomon Islands 19 v 17 American Samoa (Men)
A try in the corner for the American Samoans mid way in the first half flattered the Solomons who looked the stronger of the two teams at the start. A dazzling show of footwork by Luke Gibb from the Solomons down the side-line against some weak defence allowed the Solomons to take the lead into the break.

The Solomons struck again early in the second half with quick ball out to the flanks to Eric Toafa to extend the lead. Not to be outdone, the American Samoans hit back immediately with a try to Salemona Tefana to level the scores. A side-line dash by the Solomon speedster Tulimani clawed back the lead for Solomons with a minute remaining. However, with the bell America Samoa made a last spree for the line by their captain Salemona Tefana gave the American Samoans the chance to level the score again, however the missed conversion gave the Solomons the victory 19 points to 17.

Niue 48 v 0 Tuvalu (Men)
The disappointing loss to the New Caledonians yesterday, certainly ignited a Niuean comeback to show no mercy for the Tuvaluan team in the pool match clash. The Tuvaluans had no answer for the Niueans who outplayed the Tuvaluans in every aspect of the game, displaying the experience and skill missing from the encounter against the Caledonians. The Niueans heaved eight tries to take a convincing victory 48 points to nil against Tuvalu.

Papua New Guinea 14 v 17 Cook Islands (Women)
PNG started the match on a high note with a converted try in the opening minutes of the match against the tough Cook Islanders, however the Cook Islanders struck back at the other end of the 1st half to lock the score at 7 each at the break.

The Cook Islanders finally took the lead mid way in the second half with a pulsating try to Teivanui Maui after some good support play by the Cooks. PNG were furious in attack, and while making a series of line breaks against the tiring Cook islanders, handling errors otherwise let them down. A try by Joanna Logana with a minute to play between the posts seemed to have clinched the win, however the proud Cook Islanders had the last say with a try at the death to upset the PNG team - 17 points to 14.

Guam 0 v 24 New Caledonia (Women)
New Caledonia were expected to make short work of Guam in their final matches of pool play, but were not able to make an impression against the Guamanians until the 5th minute of the match with a try to their winger Yolaine Yango, who blitzed the covering defence to score in the corner.

The Caledonians however came back with a vengeance in the last half to up the ante against the brave Guamanians, to take the match 24 points to nil.

Fiji 43 v 0 Tahiti (Women)
The last match of pool play in the women’s competition between medal favorites Fiji and Tahiti was expected to be a white wash to the powerful Fijians. However, the Tahitians played couragously to hold the Fijians to a 10 point margain in the first half.

The Fijians however managed to find fourth gear and powered on to score 5 more tries to take the match 43 points to 0.

New Caledonia 41 v 0 Tuvalu (Men)
The New Caledonians were in barnstorming form against a Tuvaluan team who not only had to contend with the New Caledonian team but also the home town crowd in their final pool match of the tournament. The Caledonians were unstoppable with their forwards leading the way out wide to pummel the Tuvaluan defense into submission time after time. Folauatanoa Petelo once again led the way for the home team breaking tackles at will for his faster men to feed off him to the line. Freedy Toatele also impressed with a hand full of tries to join Teddy Gronlin in the try count. New Caledonia 41 Tuvalu 0.

Fiji 77 v 0 Tokelau (Men)
Fiji lived up to their billling by storming past the Tokelauans who could only look on helplessly as the Fijians scored try after try. Deprived of the ball, the Tokelauans had no answer and by the end of the contest were clearly downtrodden at the harsh lesson dealt by the World Series veterans.

A record score in pool play soon ensued with the Fijians recording a 77 points to 0 scoreline against the Tokelauans.

Samoa 45 v 0 Solomon Islands (Men)
Samoa similarly cruised past the Solomons, but were made a made to work a bit harder against the Solomons who showed a lot of determination in defence. Mikaele Pesamino and Patrick Fa'apale were well watched by the pacey Solomon Islanders and were kept at bay.

Asi Fa'amatala for Samoa impressed with penetrating runs in mid feild which pryed open the Solomons for the Samoans to notch a 45 – 0 win against the Solomons.

Papua New Guinea 17 v 10 Niue (Men)
Niue kick-started their match with an early try against PNG in the final match of the day with a try to Talagi Uani Rhodes in the corner. PNG replied almost immediately with a well worked break out wide to find Douglas Guise on the inside cut to jot down between the posts for a converted try to take PNG in front at the break.

Two quick tries in the second half by Ponafasio Kapaga put the game beyond the Niueans reach for PNG to the win 17 points to 10.