2011 South Pacific Games - Action from Day 1

All the action from Day 1 of the 2011 Pacific Games in New Caledonia including Tournament Draw, team lists, photos, match results and match reviews.


TOURNAMENT DRAW:

Click here to view the Tournament Draw


DAY 1 POOL SUMMARIES:

Click here to view the Day 1 Pool A Summary - Men
Click here to view the Day 1 Pool B Summary - Men
Click here to view the Day 1 Pool C Summary - Men
Click here to view the Day 1 Pool Summary - Women 


DAY 1 PHOTOS:

Click here for Day 1 Photos


RESULTS:

Click on each team in the results table below to view their Team List for each Match.
Match Reviews can be found below the Results Table.

 
MATCH REVIEWS:

Papua New Guinea 34 v 0 Guam (Women)

Papua New Guinea were too strong for Guam, with No. 6 Joane Logana in scintillating form against the hapless Guamese. The wily speedster dazzled the Caledonian crowd with her pace and panache to earn her a bag full of tries (four) and two conversions to go with it. The Guamese played with grit, but struggled to contain a spirited PNG team who will certainly be a handful for all comers in the next few days of competition.

New Caledonia 10 v 0 Cook Islands (Women)

The Host Ladies of the Women’s competition delivered the Tournament’s first upset with a spirited 10 point win against a bamboozled Cook Islands team. The New Caledonians showed plenty of enterprise, by giving the ball plenty of air time to outflank the Cooks. A last minute grasp to snare points for the Cooks went begging as the New Caledonians stumped the stunned Cook Islands with tigerish defence.

Samoa 27 v 0 Tahiti (Women)

Samoa were able to string together some classy combinations to overcome a gutsy Tahiti team in the third match of the day. Pace dictated match proceedings with the Samoans too quick for the Tahitians out wide. A more determined effort by the Tahitians in the second half kept the Samoans in check for most moments of the last stanza, with Tahitian forward Mereana Mou Fat showing exceptional strength to continuously frustrate the Samoans with some bustling breaks up the middle.

Fiji 26 v 0 Papua New Guinea (Women)

Fiji delivered a mouth-watering display of sevens rugby at its best, with a commanding victory over Papua New Guinea. After such a strong showing in the first match of the day, the PNG girls were never in the hunt against a physical Fijian outfit who successfully shut down PNG. Anna Roqica for Fiji carved the opposition defence with a classy show of footwork to snare her a couple of tries to edge Fiji ahead 26 points to nil.

Cook Islands 22 v 5 Guam (Women)

The scoreline between the two teams flattered the true intensity of the contest with the Guamanians showing plenty of grit to jolt the Cooks during the match. With size clearly in the Cooks favour, the Guamanians were unlucky to finish a series of attacks out wide, which clearly had the Cooks on the back foot. Broken play favoured the Cooks, where they managed to snatch a couple from Guamanian mistakes to sew the match up.

New Caledonia 5 v 14 Samoa (Women)

The New Caledonians continued their impressive form against the more fancied Samoans in a heart stopping match that was only decided in the last seconds of the match. The Caledonians constantly troubled the Samoans with their probing runs up the middle which left the Samoan defence in tatters. An early try to the Samoans perhaps proved the difference, as the Caledonians dominated thereafter. A try by giant wing Elisepeta Keletaona for New Caledonia before the break gave the home town team plenty of spark to ignite a second upset, however despite blanketing the Samoans in their half for most moments of the second half, a last minute try against the run of play secured a hard fought win for the relieved Samoans.

Papua New Guinea 42 v 5 Tahiti (Women)

After a disappointing performance against the Fijians, the PNG girls looked to make amends against the Tahitians. An early try by their star player Joane Logana from deep within their half set the tone for the match with the Tahitians unable to contain the PNG onslaught. Catherine Rhambu from PNG showed her class with some probing runs to dot down twice against the tiring Tahitians stung by an angry PNG side reeling from their heavy defeat in the previous match. A consolation try late in the match would be well welcomed by the Tahitians who look forward to their final match against the Cook Islands later in the day.

Cook Islands 7 v 36 Fiji (Women)

Fiji started their showdown against the Cooks in the same manner as they did against the PNG girls, with a quick try within seconds of kick-off to Geua Larry. However a try to Nareta Marsters in the 5th minute gave the Cooks a much needed boost leading into the Second half against the in form Fijians.

Desperate to upstage the tournament favourites, the Cook Island girls played courageously in the opening minutes of the second half, but the pace in which the Fijians played took its toll on the Cook Island girls with the Fijians running away with another convincing win 36 points to 7.

Samoa 17 v 7 Guam (Women)

The Guamanians "never give up" spirit nearly paid off against the Samoans, holding their more fancied opponents to 7 point margain heading into the half way mark. A run away try from deep within their half flatterred the Samoans, who were obviously unsettled by the gritty Guamanians. A late try to Guam was just reward for their resiliance against a frustrated Samoan team. However, the two trys scored in the second half to Rowena Fa'aiuaso was the difference to pull Samoa through for another hard fought win.

Tokelau 12 v 5 Tahiti (Men)

The first men's match of the tournament between Tokelau and Tahiti was a stop start affair, with both teams suffering early match jitters. A try to Luapo Luao for Tokelau in the 5th minute opened the scoring cards for the Tokelauans, with Pasene Lamese following suit just before half time to take the feisty Tokelauans to a 12 point lead into half time.

The Tahitians started strongly in the second half pinning the Tokelauans deep in their half for the first three minutes of the final stanza. A kick ahead by Gooding Yannick paid dividends for the Tahitian speedster seeing him score his country's first try of the tournament. With two minutes remaining, the Tahitians continued to apply the pressure on the Tokelauans , but were unable to claw back the lead from the delighted Tokelauans.

Solomon Islands 24 v 5 Vanuatu (Men)

Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands similarly showed early tournament jitters taking some time to find their way to the try lines. A try to Roman Tongaka in the 5th minute, followed by tries to team mates Sablan Antoine and Vivi Frank Kelesi gave the Solomons a handy 17 point lead at the half time break.

With a bit more possession, the Vanuatuans were able to show what they were capable of by scoring a remarkable try after at least 20 or more passes were made. However, the Solomon Islands proved far too strong for their neighbours taking their first win 24 points to 5.

Niue 12 v New Caledonia 17 (Men)

The New Caldonians started strongly against the more experienced Niueans, and with the home crowd behind them the home town boys had no trouble crossing the chalk with a bustling try out wide to Takatai Desire. Not to be outdone, the Niueans were also able to dot down after a New Caledonian mistake on their own line. The remaining minutes of the first half was a brutal affair with both teams seemingly content in muscling it up the middle Pacific style. A try to Niue in the final minute gave the men from the rock a 5 point lead into the break.

A line break by the Caledonian tall timber Faletanoa Petelo from deep in New Caldonia territory half paved the way for a try in the corner to Nicolas Pavlovski. Another try to Freddy Toatele gave the home team the lead again, and with minutes remaining and the home town crowd cheering away, the New Caledonians were never looking back. An upset when soon ensued with New Caledonian men joining their Women's team in providing an upset victory to the delight of the country.

Papua New Guinea 33 v New Caledonia 17 (Women)

After a momentuous win by the New Caledonian men's team, the Women’s team ran on to a deafening roar by the home crowd, urging their Women's team onto victory against the PNG girls. However, PNG obviously had other ideas, and despite a strong start by the home town girls PNG responded with three tries before the break to take a 13 point lead into the seconf half.

A try shortly after kick off by Joane Logana all but assured a PNG victory, however a red card to their star player shortly following the restart ignited a Caledonina resurgence. two tries to the hometown team fell short to a 33 to 17 win to the PNG girls.