News
State of the nation - Pacific Islands
December 02 2008
What a fitting end to the November series for this threesome of countries as the Pacific Islands claimed a priceless first Test victory of their four-year existence against Italy in Reggio Emilia.
Since their inception, this team of star players from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga have always possessed an enviable wealth of flair to accompany strong tackling bulk, but unfortunately on occasion lacked the appropriate set-piece nous and professionalism to beat their rivals - that was until a memorable Rugby World Cup 2007.
Lasting impressions were made by all Islands in France last year, notably from Fiji who dumped Wales out of the competition en route to a quarter-final defeat to eventual champions South Africa.
Therefore, as one would expect, morale was never higher heading into November Test fixtures against England, France and the Azzurri.
However, an opening loss at Twickenham halted their stride and despite ultimately saving their autumn with an impressive 25-17 success against their week three hosts, there will be a slight sense of 'what if' on the plane home following events in Socheux.
The opening build up was all about Martin Johnson's new-look England but opposing Head Coach Quddus Fielea had a selection of his own to name that looked very capable of mixing with the world's best - ultimately making many an English fan keep pre-game confidence in check.
With the tourists' typically dangerous attacking talent now plying their trade on a weekly basis in the Guinness Premiership and across Europe's top competitions, their tag of being a crowd favourite first and winner second arguably deserved rethinking ahead of the month.
Unfortunately for the Islanders though, their big opportunity to upset the debut applecart was not to be as England, barring an occasional blemish, ran out fairly comfortable winners on the opening weekend.
The mid-tour game against France that saw the visitors line up against several familiar faces from the Top 14 in a clash widely predicted to be thrilling and expansive. Proceedings began to script with Fielea's men obviously looking to right some HQ wrongs, going 6-3 ahead until disaster struck in the monster-sized shape of finisher Napolioni Nalaga. The physical wing was sent off for knocking out a kicking Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and from that moment the game was beyond the man-down underdog - we will never know what could have occurred with a full compliment.
The Islanders' final Test was something of a shot at salvaging their tour as they went toe-to-toe with the rugged Italians. One suspected there was always a winning team just waiting to burst out of this group and so it proved as Vilimoni Delasau and co. capped off the series with a strong victory.
Star man: Heineken Cup fans will no doubt associate former Clermont Auvergne finisher Vilimoni Delasau with that score against Wasps last season. However, his summer move to Montauban has spurred the Fijian on to new heights as he's currently thriving in the Top 14 try chart - and it showed in November. Alongside other devastating runners in Napolioni Nalaga, Kameli Ratuvou and Seilala Mapasua, the 31-year-old joined his colleagues in saving his best performance until last as he ran in two scores to bring joy to the three rugby heartlands.