Reviews & Reactions - Nations Championship/Cup Round 5

Jeremy Lardner (0:01)

I begin this episode by paying respect to the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, the traditional custodians of the land on which this podcast is produced. I pay respect to their elders, past, present and emerging, and I extend that same respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners of this podcast.

Hello, my love, Buwanaka, and welcome to the Dua Moana Pasifika Rugby Podcast, where we bring you Pasifika voices talking Pasifika rugby. What a morning of rugby we had yesterday. Three very different matches, three very different emotions, and plenty for us to get stuck into.

Now, just to recap, Tonga went down 55 to 31 against Georgia in Tbilisi. Manu Samoa delivered another convincing win, this one 36 to 5 over Portugal in Lisbon. The Flying Fijians pushed Ireland hard, especially in the first half in Dublin, before Ireland pulled away to win 43 to 15 Now, the temptation with a moment like this is to put Samoa in a good column, and Tonga and Fiji in a disappointing column. But I think that would miss quite a lot of what we actually watched. Tonga scored 5 tries away from home, and kept responding when the game was getting away from them. Samoa showed how powerful this group can be when their physicality comes with patience and accuracy. Fiji went into the break just 2 points behind Ireland. Then they discovered how quickly a test can escape when you can't keep getting yourself out of your own end. So today, we're going beyond the final scores. We're talking about Big Ben's return, and what leadership looks like when the pressure comes on. We're talking about Theo McFarlane, Nico Jones, and the Samoan side beginning to look connected. We're talking about the good things Fiji did, alongside the problems that prevented those good things lasting for 80 minutes.

There were some wonderful rugby across those matches. There were also passages that will now have our coaches reaching for the pause button when they review the footage. And that's where we come. Let's start in Tbilisi.

The challenge here for Tonga was to find enough clean possession to turn their obvious attacking threats into control of the match.

Before the ball was kicked, Taneatakalua led a sipitao that felt absolutely full of feeling. If you didn't watch this much, and I can understand if you didn't, because it was at 1am, just go back and watch the highlights. But if you can, check out the footage of that sipitao because it was really moving. They always are, but this one had a little bit more in it.

And it was a wonderful way to kick off the morning, the early morning of rugby viewing.

Now, when the game began, and Ben Tamuifuna got into a rhythm very, very quickly, he really did make sure that his presence carried into the rugby. We talked before this match, only in the preview, about how much his return could mean. His scrimmaging matters, his carrying matters, but his teammates also know that when the contest gets uncomfortable, their captain will be in the middle of it. And that early collision that Big Ben had with David Niniashvili was a reminder of the physical challenge that he presents, because he almost killed him. David was slicing through the Tongan line, and then he runs into Ben, who just puts a shoulder straight through him. It was incredible to watch. Then after Tonga stole a line out close to the Georgian line, and that built pressure. Big Ben took the tack, and he crashed over. Tonga led 7-3, and I loved the patience before they tried. They won the ball, they stayed close enough to support each other. They kept asking the defense to work, back their captain to finish. Tonga, they earned that moment. They did everything they needed to, to earn that tryout. It's also good to see Jorgano involved with Georgia's coaching team.

His briefer and contact and attacking rocks makes him a valuable addition to their preparation. We can't attribute everything Georgia did well to one member of the coaching staff, but I think a player with his experience has plenty to offer a group working on the detail that turns strong carries into quick usable possession. And this is where I want to give Georgia a bit of a shout out because their development over literally the last 23 years at least. I mean, I remember when they came into the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and they were very, very much a little known nation in terms of rugby. And there were stories about them having so little funding that they were spending some nights in tents and some nights in actual accommodation.

Fast forward to 2026