Fiji strike early to down Samoa in Apia

Hooker Tevita Ikanivere scored two early tries as Fiji rode a strong start to beat Samoa 33-19 in the Pacific Nations Cup in Apia on Saturday and continue their encouraging preparations for the World Cup in France.

Ikanivere, who had a fine season for the Drua in Super Rugby, opened the scoring with a quickly taken penalty in the seventh minute and added his second 10 minutes later off the back of a rolling maul.

In between his scores, centre Iosefo Masi grabbed a try on debut off a flick pass from his skipper Semi Radradra to help the visitors to a 17-0 lead inside the opening quarter.

Samoa, who beat Japan in the opening round of the competition last week and gave a debut to former All Blacks flanker Steve Luatua, finally got on the board with a try from former Wallabies flyhalf Christian Leali'ifano after 20 minutes.

A streak down the touchline for a try from winger Selestino Ravutaumada and two penalties from flyhalf Caleb Muntz, however, gave the Fijians a 30-5 cushion at halftime.

The home side grabbed the momentum as rain started falling in the Samoan capital in the second half with winger Tumua Manu and skipper Fritz Lee scoring tries to cut the deficit to 33-19 just after the hour mark.

Samoa kept hammering away at the Fiji defensive line as conditions deteriorated further but the visitors held them out for a second bonus-point victory in two weeks after their opening 36-20 victory over Tonga last Saturday.

The win kept Fiji top of the standings on 10 points ahead of Samoa on four before they make the trip to Japan for next week's final round of the four-team competition.

"It was a pretty good game today," said Radradra. "The first half we really did well, but we let them come back in the second. Hopefully we