Pellegrini scores 25 points as Tonga defeats Canada in Pacific Nations Cup rugby play

SANDY – Fly half Patrick Pellegrini scored three tries and added another 10 points with his boot as Tonga defeated a game Canada 35-24 in the third-place game Saturday at the Pacific Nations Cup rugby tournament.

The game ended with the Canadian men laying siege to the Tonga goal-line but the comeback fell short.

The victory moves Tonga up two spots in the world rankings to No. 17, leapfrogging Portugal and Uruguay. Canada remains at No. 24.

It marked Tonga’s best showing at the tournament since 2018 when it was runner-up to Fiji. It was Canada’s highest finish since 2013 when it finished runner-up to Fiji.

Defending champion Fiji, which led 33-10 at one point in the second half, hung on to retain its title by defeating Japan 33-27 in the final later Saturday at America First Field. The ninth-ranked Fijians did not help their cause by losing two players to the sin-bin late in the game.

Fiji has now won the tournament seven times, also finishing runner-up five times. No. 13 Japan, which has won the title three times, was beaten 41-17 by Fiji in last year’s final.

Fiji, which downed Tonga 62-24 in the semifinal, has won 16 of the last 18 meetings with Japan (16-2-0) and holds a 17-4-0 edge in the all-time series.

The Tonga game came one day after the second-ranked Canadian women turned heads with a 34-19 win over defending champion New Zealand at the Women’s World Cup in England.

Tupou Afungia and Siegfried Fisi’ihoialso also scored tries for Tonga. The Australian-born Pellegrini, who plays for Moana Pasifika in Super Rugby, booted five conversions.

Matt Oworu, Brock Gallagher and Peter Nelson scored tries for Canada, which had already accomplished its main goal at the tournament by qualifying for the 2027 World Cup in Australia. Nelson added three conversions and a penalty.

“I think at times we’ve been really happy with (the performance at the tournament) and there’s times when we’ve let ourselves down through execution or being a little bit slow to support one another,” said Canada coach Steve Meehan, whose record at the Canadian helm dropped to 1-5-0.

“But we just keep working on things and hopefully keep the mood in the camp nice and positive and we go forward from here.”

The Canadian men will tour Europe this November to play No. 11 Georgia, No. 18 Portugal and No. 21 Romania.

Canada finished runner-up in Pool B, defeating the 16th-ranked U.S. 34-22 on Aug. 20 in Calgary before losing 57-50 to No. 13 Japan eight days later in Sendai. The Canadians were beaten 63-10 by No. 9 Fiji in last Sunday’s semifinal in Commerce City, Colo.

Leading 14-7 at the half, Tonga pulled ahead in the second half. But Canada kept answering and a Nelson try, aided by a nifty offload by Spencer Jones after some hard work by the Canadian forwards, cut the lead to 28-24 in the 64th minute.

Tonga was reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes when wing Nikolai Foliaki was sent off for head contact in trying to stop Nelson on the scoring play. Canada prop Kyle Steeves followed him to the sin bin in the 69th minute for not wrapping his arms in a tackle.

Pellegrini upped the Tonga lead to 35-24 in the 71st minute with his third try, dancing through the Canadian defence after a Canadian scrum penalty near the Canada goal-line 

Tonga was captained by 34-year-old prop Ben Tameifuna, a man-mountain at six-foot-two and 326 pounds. Lock Mason Flesch, an athletic big unit himself at 6-4 and 235 pounds, led Canada in the absence of the injured Lucas Rumball and Ben LeSage.

The Canadian men lined up at midfield before the opening whistle to watch Tonga’s pre-game challenge, the Sipi Tau.

Canada came into the contest having conceded the second fewest penalties per game (9.7) at the tournament behind Fiji (9.3). But ill-discipline cost it early with Canada conceding 10 penalties in the first half, compared to four for Tonga.

The final penalty count was 19 for Canada and 11 for Tonga.

Canada pulled even at 14-14 early in the second half after a brilliant solo try by Gallagher, who beat two Tongan defenders with a sniping run from the back of a Canadian ruck.

A pair of Canada penalties set the stage for Tonga’s third try as Fisi’ihoi went over from close range in the 57th minute at the back of a rolling maul off a lineout near the Canada goal-line.

A Nelson penalty cut the lead to 21-17. But Pellegrini scored his second try in the 62nd, taking an offload from Charles Piutau to cut the lead to 28-17.

Tonga, which beat Canada 30-17 in last year’s fifth-place game, improved to 8-5-0 all-time against the Canadians.

Earlier Saturday, No. 15 Samoa and No. 20 Chile played to a 32-32 draw at the same venue in the opening leg of the South America/Pacific playoff.

The return leg goes next Saturday in Vina del Mar, Chile, with the aggregate winner becoming the 23rd and penultimate qualifier for the 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup in Australia. The loser gets one last shot, via the Final Qualification Tournament in Dubai in November.

Chile made the playoff by virtue of finishing runner-up in the Sudamérica Rugby Championship while the Samoans dropped into the playoff after losing 29-13 to the U.S. Eagles last week in the fifth-place playoff at the Pacific Nations Cup. That win earned the U.S. World Cup qualification.

The Pacific Nations Cup is sponsored by Asahi.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2025.