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Salawa K. (1'), Lomani F. (5'), Armstrong-Ravula I. (19'), Ravai P. (32'), Ikanivere T. (46'), Murray M. (51', 61')
Tries
Flesch M. (8', 71'), Parry S. (36'), Tremblay K. (67')
Armstrong-Ravula I. (2', 6', 33', 47', 62')
Conversions
McMullin T. (9', 37', 72')
Penalties
McMullin T. (27')
This semi-final didn’t change the broad picture: Fiji are still the side in this tournament that can turn five minutes of front-foot ball into a match-winning surge. Canada brought a plan and stuck with it for long spells, but the defending champions didn’t need many entries to the red zone to make the scoreboard jump, and they advanced to the Tokyo final with daylight to spare.
There’s a World Cup 2027 subplot to this rivalry and Stephen Meehan’s pre-game blueprint wasn’t wrong. “If we’re disciplined and stick with our plan, I think we can frustrate them for long periods,” he’d said, and for a chunk of the first half that read true. But the decisive passage was the opening quarter after the break, when Fiji turned a manageable contest into a chase. That’s why it finished the way it did.
The tone was set before anyone had settled. A try in the first minute from Kitione Salawa and another on five by Frank Lomani blew a hole in Canada’s “start clean” brief. Two scores down after five minutes against Fiji is a bad place to live; you’re giving a power-running side license to play off advantage and kick the corners on their terms. To Canada’s credit they didn’t fold — Matt Flesch hit back, Tomas McMullin kept the board moving with a penalty, and when Shea Parry crossed before the break it was 26-17 and game on — but they were always chasing their mistakes.
What swung it was Fiji’s ruthlessness straight after the interval. The first sustained foray of the half ended with Tevita Ikanivere over on 46 minutes, and that was the crack that became a split. Fiji then turned two more trips into points as Michael Murray finished twice in ten minutes. From 26-17 to 45-17 inside a quarter of an hour is not about pretty shapes; it’s about winning collisions, clearing the breakdown so your 9 and 10 see the same pictures, and being clinical when you get there. Canada didn’t slow a single ruck in that spell, and Fiji ran away.
Within that, individuals mattered. Isikeli Armstrong-Ravula steered the game with a calm line, took a try of his own and kicked five conversions; his tempo changes were the difference between Fiji’s first-half flurries and their second-half control. Lomani’s early score hurt precisely because it came from Fiji’s half-backs spotting a narrow guard and striking. Up front, Peni Ravai and Ikanivere getting on the sheet told you Fiji were happy to punch up the middle as well as go wide — a useful note for a final that could tilt on set-piece field position. Murray’s brace was classic Fijian finishing once the gain line had been won.
Canada’s best work came when they could slow the recycle and make Fiji carry again. Parry’s score late in the first half rewarded patient phase play, and Flesch’s second at 71 minutes, plus Kaleb Tremblay on 67, showed there’s shape and resolve in their attack. McMullin’s steady boot (three conversions and that first-half penalty) kept them tethered when momentum flickered. But the restart after half-time, and the next two defensive sets, were soft. That’s where a structured plan meets the reality of making first-up tackles and winning a jackal under duress. They didn’t.
Strip it back and the margin was built on Fiji being far more efficient with their entries either side of half-time. Canada finished with four tries and 29 points — not nothing against this opponent — but they were already in a hole at 45-17 when the late scores came. If anything, the 16-point spread flatters the losers; Fiji had the thing done by the hour.
There are caveats for the winners. Conceding three tries after the break, even with the game stretched, is a concentration note. The final in Tokyo, against the winner of Japan–USA, won’t be as forgiving if they switch off with the bench on. Discipline around the defensive 40 mattered here and will matter more next week. Still, Fiji’s ability to cash in quickly — Salawa on 1 minute, Ikanivere on 46, Murray on 51 and 61 — is why they’re back in the showpiece.
Canada leave Osaka with something more substantial than gallant noise. Twelve months ago these two met and it blew out to 63-10; this time they found a way to stay in contact for 50 minutes and to finish with a pulse. The lesson is harsh but useful: starts and restarts against elite strike teams can erase ten minutes of good structure in a blink. Meehan’s group can point to four different try-scorers and a functioning goal-kicker; they also have tape of exactly where their line speed, breakdown contest and exits frayed under heat. That’s what they’ll need seven days from now in the placement game, and, more importantly, when this pairing resurfaces at the World Cup.
For Fiji, Tokyo brings the chance to defend a title with their attacking game humming and their playmakers in rhythm. Tighten the switch-off moments and they’re good value to go again. For Canada, the route forward is clarity rather than reinvention: clean first five minutes, kill the first three rucks after half-time, and trust the structure they showed in patches can live for 80. The immediate read is simple enough: the champions are still on track; the chasers learned exactly how far they have left to climb.
