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WINNERS: FijiWHEN: 11-25 JuneWHERE: Apia, Samoa, and Suva, FijiFINAL STANDINGS: 1. Fiji 2. Samoa 3. TongaLEADING POINTS SCORER: Seremaia Bai (Fiji), 24FIJI LEAVE IT LATE: Winger Patrick Osborne’s 78th-minute try (above) sealed a third title in four years for Fiji, who fought back from 16-3 down to beat Samoa 26-16 in the decisive match at the ANZ Stadium in Suva. Seremaia Bai kicked four penalties and converted both Fiji tries for a personal haul of 16 points. It was a similar story in the opening game against Tonga where Fiji had to overcome a 15-0 half-time deficit before winning 23-18.RUGBY WORLD CUP FACTOR: The tournament kick-started the Oceania qualification process for Rugby World Cup 2019, with the two best teams across 2016 and 2017 booking their tickets to Japan. The third-placed team meets a European side in a home-and-away play-off, with the winner qualifying as Play-off 1 and the loser entering the global repechage.GEO SUMMIT: The three Pacific nations played Georgia during the course of the tournament as the Lelos embarked on an historic tour of the region as part of a World Rugby-funded competition programme. Samoa fared best, drawing 19-19 in the first game, before Tonga (23-20) and Fiji (14-3) both lost to Georgia.THEY SAID: “Samoa came in hard in the first 20 minutes, they rattled us and we were not settling into our system. But luckily, same as last week, we regrouped and we trusted the system, held the ball more and played our game.” Fiji captain Sunia Koto.WINNERS: RomaniaWHEN: 9-18 JuneWHERE: Bucharest, RomaniaFINAL STANDINGS: 1. Romania 2. Argentina XV 3. Namibia 4. Emerging Italy 5. Uruguay 6. SpainLEADING POINTS SCORER: Theuns Kotze (Namibia), 26LEADING TRY SCORER: Joaquín Paz (Argentina XV), threeOAKS STAND TALL: Romania’s dominance of the competition continued with a fourth title in five years. The Oaks only conceded two tries and 16 points across their three matches, and clinched the silverware with a comfortable 20-8 victory against Argentina XV in the all-important final game.NEVER-SAY-DIE NAMIBIA: Nine months on from their best-ever performance at a Rugby World Cup, Namibia took a further step forward in their development by registering two wins at a single Nations Cup tournament for the first time. They had to come from behind in both victories, against Spain and Emerging Italy.LIGHTNING DOES STRIKE TWICE : Severe thunderstorms above the stadionul National Arcul de Triumf forced Romania’s second round match with Uruguay to be suspended on player safety grounds with the Oaks leading 18-0. Referee Damian Schneider had already taken the players off once before a second lightning strike caused a permanent halt to proceedings. The match continued the following day with Romania winning 40-0.THEY SAID: “It was a good tournament. We tested seven new players and they all proved themselves worthy, I am really proud of them.” Romania coach Lynn Howells.WORLD RUGBY PACIFIC NATIONS CUP 2016WORLD RUGBY NATIONS CUP 2016Full results at: www.worldrugby.org/pncFull results at: www.worldrugby.org 38 WORLD RUGBY YEAR IN REVIEW 2016INSPIRE | TOURNAMENTS REVIEW