So the 2011 Pacific Rugby Cup Australian series is over. It wrapped up last week after three rounds of action in Australia. What have we discovered? The local Island players of the Fiji Warriors, Samoa A and Tonga A are certainly no push-overs.
Here are the results after the final round of matches between the Pacific Island nations and the respective Australian teams of the Brumby Runners, Junior Waratahs and Queensland Reds Academy.
Round 1 (19-02-2011)
Junior Waratahs – 28 v Tonga A – 18 /Foreshaw Rugby Park
Brumby Runners – 29 v Samoa A – 13 /Canberra Stadium
QAS Reds Academy – 26 v Fiji Warriors – 27 /Ballymore
Round 2 (23-02-2011 )
Junior Waratahs – 12 v Fiji Warriors – 15 /St Marys League Club
Brumby Runners – 22 v Tonga A – 22 /Vikings Park
QAS Reds Academy – 20 v Samoa A – 23 /Ballymore, Brisbane
Round 3 (28-02-2011)
Junior Waratahs – 12 v Samoa A – 35 /St Marys League Club
QAS Reds Academy – 22 v Tonga A – 23 /Ballymore, Brisbane
Brumby Runners – 30 v Fiji Warriors – 28 /Vikings Park
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Of the nine Matches played between the PI nations and the Australian teams, the PI nations won five and drew one.
Also, the three matches that were lost were close matches and not blowouts. I find this a remarkable achievement for our PI nations and something to be proud of.
Hopefully, this format can continue next year and beyond. Also for more information, I have included the points table.
Aussie Series
Teams Played Win Loss Draw Bonus Total
ACT 3 2 0 1 3 13
SAM-A 3 2 1 0 1 9
Fij War 3 2 1 0 1 9
TON-A 3 1 1 1 0 6
J-TAHS 3 1 2 0 2 6
QAS 3 0 3 0 3 3
After the Aussie Series, the Brumby Runners claimed first place with two wins and a draw. They had no loss to their name.
At the second place were the PI nations, while the Junior Tahs and QAS Academy took the bottom two places without any wins.
However, for the core teams of Samoa A, Tonga A and Fiji Warrior, the ranking is as below.
1st – Samoa A with nine points and positive point difference
2nd – Fiji Warriors with nine points with +2 points difference
3rd – Tonga A with six points.
One hopes that the PI nations continue with their fine form into the the next leg in the New Zealand series against the Crusaders Knights, Hurricanes XV and Highlanders XV.
PI rugby looks a bit brighter now.
Go SAMOA!
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