Number eight Talei powered through the despairing tackles of the Japanese defence to force the ball down and present inside centre Seremaia Bai with a simple conversion attempt to secure the one-point win on Thursday.

The victory in the final match of the five-nation series lifted Fiji above Samoa into second place - their best ever finish - behind the Junior All Blacks in the round robin competition.

Japan came within a whisker of their first ever win over Fiji in the Pacific Nations Cup, but instead they finished fourth ahead of Tonga in their highest ever placing.

Fiji's win, their third from four matches in the series, means they hold on to their ninth ranking in the world and Japan remain at 14.