Wales ran in five tries to beat the Pacific Islanders 38-20 at the Millennium Stadium to hand coach Gareth Jenkins his first win as national team coach after four games at the helm.
First-half tries from Mark Jones, James Hook, Kevin Morgan and Lee Byrne inspired the win with the Pacific Islanders eventually running in two second half tries through Seilala Mapasua and Kameli Ratuvou to add to Justin Va'a's first half effort.
Jenkin had made a staggering 14 changes from the side that drew 29-29 with Australia last weekend but the second string side still proved too strong for the Pacific Islanders.
Jones said the draw with Australia had inspired his players.
"At the start of the Australia game they came out and caught us but the squad showed their spirit there and that helped us for this week," he said.
"There is a lot of competition for places and it is a good environment to be in. When it comes to selection everyone is trying to get into the starting team. But we take it every game at a time and try to build our performances," Jones said.
The victory, which was all but wrapped up by half-time, was Wales's first in nine months -- their last victory being a Six Nations success over 14-man Scotland in Cardiff.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was