OSAKA, Japan (AP) — Fiji overwhelmed Japan from a 10-10 halftime deadlock to win an energetic Pacific Nations Cup final 41-17 at Hanazono Stadium on Saturday.
Fiji wore down the fast-starting Japanese with weight and speed and with impact off the bench, scoring five tries — two more were disallowed — for a record-extending sixth PNC title, and first since 2018.
The defense was also special. For the only time in five PNC matches, Fiji conceded points in a second half, less than three minutes from fulltime, to wing Malo Tuitama who scored Japan's second try.
“We just had to stay in there, work really hard to set ourselves up in the second half by maintaining really good pressure in that first half,” first-year Fiji coach Mick Byrne said.
After early penalty kicks, Japan center Dylan Riley scored a brilliant solo try by cutting inside three defenders and collecting his own chip.
Counterpart Inia Tabuavou then had a try chalked off by a knock-on in the buildup, but Fiji eventually tied the score against the run of play when Harumichi Tatekawa's grubber kick rebounded off Eroni Mawi, Tabuavou hacked ahead, and wing Vuate Karawalevu won the race to the ball.
Fiji started the new half with a man advantage while Japan hooker Mamoru Harada was sin-binned. Standout flyhalf Caleb Muntz had a try disallowed because of obstruction but his 56th- minute penalty gave Fiji the lead for the first time.
The Fijian pack was on a roll and Japan was struggling to contain it. With defenders dragged in by Fiji's pick and goes, there was space out wide and Fiji used it.
Replacement and Olympic sevens silver medallist Ponepati Loganimasi finished a try on his test debut then Tabuavou was tackled into touch in the right by Tuitama. But a minute later, Fiji was in again through replacement forward Albert Tuisue.
Fiji crossed twice more in the next eight minutes, Loganimasi's offload released Karawalevu for his second try, then Loganimasi broke from a midfield ruck and stepped the last defender for try number two.
Muntz, the player of the tournament, kicked six from six and let Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula convert their last try.
Tuitama gave Japan some consolation with the last converted try but the hosts lost to Fiji for the sixth time in their last seven contests.
For third place, Samoa beat the United States 18-13 with a 77th-minute try by Melani Nanai.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Fijian players celebrate scoring a try against Japan during the second half of the final at Pacific Nations Cup rugby match in Higashi Osaka city, Osaka prefecture, western Japan, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024.(Kyodo News via AP)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a second major drone and missile bombardment of Ukraine in four days, officials said Tuesday, aiming again at the power grid amid freezing temperatures in an apparent snub to U.S.-led peace efforts as Moscow's invasion of its neighbor approaches the four-year mark.
Russia fired almost 300 drones, 18 ballistic missiles and seven cruise missiles at eight regions overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media.
One strike in the northeastern Kharkiv region killed four people at a mail depot, and several hundred thousand households were without power in the Kyiv region, Zelenskyy said.
The daytime temperature in Kyiv, which has endured freezing temperatures for more than two weeks, was minus 12 degrees C (about 10 degrees F), with streets covered in ice and the rumble of generators heard throughout the capital.
Kyiv has grappled with severe power shortages for days, although Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Monday night's strikes caused the biggest electrical outage the city has faced so far.
More than 500 residential buildings remained without central heating Tuesday. Throughout the city, bare trees were weighed down with icicles and snow was piled up next to sidewalks.
To cope, friends and relatives gathered in those apartments that have power or hot water, at least temporarily. They charge their phones, take hot showers, or share a warm drink.
Klitschko ordered the city to provide one hot meal per day to needy residents. He also announced that workers in the city’s water, heating and road maintenance services would receive bonuses for working “day and night” to restore critical infrastructure.
Four days earlier, Russia also sent hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in a large-scale overnight attack and, for only the second time in the war, it used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in what appeared to be a clear warning to Kyiv’s NATO allies that it won’t back down.
On Monday, the U.S. accused Russia of a “ dangerous and inexplicable escalation ” of the fighting at a time when the Trump administration is trying to advance peace negotiations.
Tammy Bruce, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Washington deplores “the staggering number of casualties” in the conflict and condemns Russia’s intensifying attacks on energy and other infrastructure.
Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat and running water in winter over the course of the war, hoping to wear down public resistance to Moscow’s full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as “weaponizing winter.”
The attack in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region also wounded 10 people, local authorities said.
In the southern city of Odesa, six people were wounded in the attack, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional military administration. The strikes damaged energy infrastructure, a hospital, a kindergarten, an educational facility and a number of residential buildings, he said.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is counting on quicker deliveries of agreed upon air defense systems from the U.S. and Europe, as well as new pledges of aid to counter Russia’s latest onslaught.
Meanwhile, Russian air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s Defese Ministry said Tuesday. Seven were reportedly destroyed over Russia’s Rostov region, where Gov. Yuri Slyusar confirmed an attack on the coastal city of Taganrog, about 40 kilometers (about 24 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, in Kyiv's latest long-range attack on Russian war-related facilities.
Ukraine’s military said its drones hit a drone manufacturing facility in Taganrog. The Atlant Aero plant designs, manufactures and tests Molniya drones and components for Orion unmanned aerial vehicles, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Explosions and a fire were reported at the site, with damage to production buildings confirmed, the General Staff said.
It wasn't possible to independently verify the reports.
Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
