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All Blacks given upper hand as Fiji undergo travel hell on way to USA
By Chris Jones
The Flying Fijians squad has reassembled in San Diego for the clash with the All Blacks after nine players had to get their visas in Suva before flying to Los Angeles.
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Local media reported the nine who travelled via Fiji were Eroni Mawi, Albert Tuisue, Jiuta Wainiqolo, Sireli Maqala, Meli Derenalagi, Peniasi Dakuwaqa, Viliame Mata, Temo Mayanavanua and Vilimoni Botitu.
The rest of the squad left Georgia on Sunday via Turkey and all of the players are now in San Diego training under head coach Mick Byrne who has pinpointed the set piece as a key area after studying the All Blacks two test series win over England.
Fiji are coming off an impressive 21-12 win in Georgia against a team noted for its forward power. Byrne’s side did not concede a try and a repeat of that tight defence will be vital against the All Blacks.
Byrne told the Fiji Sun: “I thought we did well on our scrum, our line-out and mauling was good against Georgia, so we’ll just continue to grow that. We are working hard with our set-piece and our scrums, making sure that we are committed in that area.
“We just need to make sure that we settle in early in defence to be able to be the physical team that we know we can be. The growth in the Flying Fijians over the last couple of years with the inclusion of the Fijian Drua team has created a more professional depth than what was there originally.
“The depth of the squad has improved to the point where we’ll do our work and focus on ourselves.”
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The Flying Fijians will face the All Blacks at the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on Saturday. The All Blacks won the first Test 16-15 and wrapped up the series with a 24-17 win over England in Auckland despite having considerable problems at the line out.
Neutralising the Georgian forward pack isn’t to be sniffed at. I look forward to Fiji throwing everything at us.
The ABs already had the upper hand, to be fair. But this is what happens with a ‘marketing’ game on the other side of the world with a one week turnaround. Both teams will be feeling it.