Samoa go into Monday’s eagerly-awaited World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup 2015 title decider at the Swanguard Stadium in Burnaby the higher ranked of the two Island nations in ninth position in the World Rugby Rankings, on 76.15 points, with Fiji just 0.13 of a point behind in 10th.
Samoa gained 0.31 of a rating point following their last-gasp 21-20 win against hosts Canada on Wednesday, while Fiji’s narrow 27-22 win over Japan earned them a rise of 0.73 of a point.
Meanwhile, Tonga recorded a 33-19 win against the USA to complete a Pacific Island treble and set up a third place play-off against Japan, who currently find themselves down to 14th in the rankings – two places behind Tonga who remain 12th – following their loss to Fiji. Georgia replace the Brave Blossoms in 13th position.
North American rivals USA and Canada will contest the fifth place play-off in the Pacific Nations Cup still ranked 16th and 18th in the world respectively despite a further reduction to their points total.
The USA, however, are now some distance behind Italy, the side immediately above them in the rankings, after losing 0.44 of a point to drop to 68.04 points while Canada’s latest defeat cost them three tenths and they are now on 65.61 points.
Los Teros gain confidence but no points
Canada have no real cause to look over their shoulder just yet though as Uruguay, in 19th, are still three and a half points in arrears.
While Los Teros’ 30-26 win against an Argentina XV in Montevideo would have done wonders for their confidence ahead of Rugby World Cup 2015, it did not have any effect on their ranking as the match wasn’t between two senior international teams.
Nevertheless, Uruguay coach Pablo Lemoine was delighted with his country’s first ever victory against Argentina in a senior 15s fixture.
"This victory is something the players and coaching staff have been building for two or three years," Lemoine said.
"It's easier to work on wins than defeats, but I always say we are a team who have learned a lot from our defeats using them to win the matches we needed to win.
"This year is a true reflection of that, we learnt on the go and by changing many things."
