Japan takes Pacific Nations Cup

An injury-time time try by Yuta Imamura saw Japan snatch the Pacific Nations Cup rugby crown with a crucial 24-13 bonus-point win over a 12-man Fiji in a tense final match here Wednesday.

In a tournament that went down to the wire, the John Kirwan-coached Japan needed to beat Fiji and score four tries for the bonus point if they were to overtake Tonga on a countback at the top of the table.

The odds looked stacked against them when they trailed 8-0 at halftime and had trouble containing the bigger Fijians.

But as the game progressed Irish referee Peter Fitzgibbon punished Fiji for a lack of discipline with three yellow cards and two reds, allowing Japan to take advantage of the numerical imbalance.

They scored three quick tries to hold a 17-13 lead with 15 minutes remaining but the vital fourth try proved elusive until deep in injury time when Fiji were down to 12 men and Imamura carved through the stretched defence.

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