Those are the facts of the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2025, and they are undeniable. But they’re only a fraction of the story of a tournament that thrilled and surprised from round one all the way to an epic finals day in Salt Lake City, Utah.

They don’t tell you, for example, exactly how hard Fiji had to work, how desperately they had to hang on to weather a Japanese last-quarter fight-back to claim their 33-27 win.

The scoreline offers a hint of how close it was – but that’s all. It doesn’t explain that Japan were fastest out of the blocks to take control in the first 20. Or that Fiji produced 30 minutes or so of the most sublime running, offloading, attack-from-anywhere rugby either side of half-time. 

Or that, after being on the ropes either side of half-time, the Brave Blossoms hit back with some wonderful play of their own to pull back to within a score with 15 minutes left to play. 

Or, that two sides out on their feet in the thin Utah air continued to play some breathtaking rugby in the closing minutes of an enthralling encounter. Finals can sometimes be dour, hard-fought, close-quarter affairs. This was anything but. It was a gem of a thriller in front of a passionate and very, very loud crowd.

The facts don’t tell you, either, about the heart of the third-place play-off between Tonga and Canada – two sides that faced off in last year’s fifth-place decider. 

Even the hat-trick of tries and 25 points for Tonga fly-half Patrick Pellegrini only speak to the scale of a game that swung one way, then another, and ended with Canada hammering away at Tonga’s defensive line in an effort to reduce the 35-24 deficit after Pellegrini’s decisive third try. Nor do those facts hint at how the Sea Eagles’ tacklers held firm under huge pressure to keep them out to end their tournament on a high.

Looking back over the whole of the competition, the facts don’t explain how Canada shocked higher-ranked USA in the opening match in Calgary, and how that win set them on their way to qualifying for Men's Rugby World Cup 2027, after missing out on the tournament in France.

You only have to watch the videos from the Canada camp on social media a few weeks later – when Japan’s win over USA in Sacramento confirmed that Steve Meehan’s side were going to Australia in two years’ time – to understand what qualification means.

Then there was Tonga’s opening weekend win over Samoa in Nuku’alofa. The facts recall a 30-16 victory for the team lower down the World Rugby Men’s Rankings. They don’t tell you what it meant for a proud rugby nation. Or that later results also meant they too have booked their place at Rugby World Cup 2027.

Which brings us back to Finals day in Utah, and the other match on the docket that the facts don’t tell you all about. The first match of a two-leg Rugby World Cup 2027 qualifier between Samoa and losing Sudamericano 2025 finalists Chile. 

If the final was thrilling and the third-place play-off enthralling, this can only be described as an epic cliffhanger, as Samoa came from 25-8 down at half-time to tie the scores at 32-32 heading into the second leg in Vina del Mar, Chile, next weekend.

The facts don’t tell you about the passion and the effort, what winning and losing means to the players, the coaches and the fans. Facts are cold, hard things. They don’t tell you everything you need to know about life, about sport, about rugby.

So, this year’s Pacific Nations Cup is over. But it will be back next year, and it will probably be more exciting, more thrilling, and even closer than ever.

As Canada captain Mason Flesch put it after their third-place play-off defeat to Tonga: “The entire PNC is really starting to grow, it’s become a lot more competitive across all the teams – nations like Canada and USA getting to play against Japan, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, who are putting together good squads yearly. The competition’s just getting better.”