Fijiana XV falls short in second WXV 3 match losing 26-19 to Spain

The Vodafone Fijiana 15s side fell short in their second match of the World Women’s XV 3 as they lost to Spain 26-19 in Dubai this morning.

Spain drew first blood in the first half with a penalty to lead 3-0 before Fijiana replied with an unconverted try to take a 5-3 lead.

The Fijiana side was put under pressure as the Spanish side converted another two penalties to lead 9-5.

Fijiana’s explosive centre Vani Arei scored their second try with the conversion added to take a 12-9 lead.

Spain scored an unconverted try just before halftime to regain the lead as the game went into the break with Spain ahead 14-12.

The Spanish side came out strongly in the second half to score two more tries, one of which was converted to extend their lead to 26-12 before Fiji scored another converted try to reduce the deficit to 26-19.

Fiji looked promising to level the score in the dying stages of the match but Spain held onto their defence and denied Fiji from scoring any more points.

The Fijiana will take on Dubai next Friday in their final pool game.