Vodafone Fijiana 15s fought a strong second half battle but suffered a narrow 29-24 loss to Japan women’s team in their first test match on Sunday.
The hosts ran riot in the first half scoring three tries and led by 19-0 at the break.
Fiji bounced back in the second half scoring two tries through Mere Naivosa and Adita Miliana while Luisa Tisolo converted both for 14 points.
The Sakura Fifteens kept testing the Fijian defence and added two more unconverted tries for 29-14 lead.
Fiji kept pushing through and grabbed one more try to merge the gap at 29-19 before they were reduced to 14 players when Sulita Waisega was sin-binned for a professional foul on a Japanese player.
Fiji continued to fight hard and scored their fourth consolation try on the stroke of full time.
Fijiana will meet Japan again next Saturday.
