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'Big Bill' Mata 'a better player' following Barbarian debut

By Online Editors
Viliame Mata of Barbarians is tackled by Marcus Smith (Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images for Barbarians)

After making his Barbarians’ bow, ‘Big Bill’ Mata has turned his eyes to the Wallabies at the Rugby World Cup in Japan.

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The Barbarians entertained the Twickenham crowd on Sunday, taking an England XV all the way in a 51-43 thriller which featured 13 tries and 80 minutes of fast-paced, running rugby.

Fijian Number 8 Viliame ‘Big Bill’ Mata made his debut for the invitational side and put in a typically combative display at the home of English Rugby.

Mata will be hoping to make a return to Twickenham on Saturday 16th November with his national side, Fiji, where they face the Barbarians in the first international match to be held in the UK after the Rugby World Cup. The Rio 2016 Olympic gold medal winner and 2018/19 Pro 14 Player of the Year explained this week what it means to represent the two most entertaining teams in international rugby.

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“Making my debut last weekend for the Barbarians was a big step in my career. The Barbarians are known for world class players and being a part of the club is really exciting.

“The Barbarians have been going for many years with top quality players from around the globe coming together to make a world class team. Playing with a new group of players is what’s so exciting about becoming a Barbarian.

“Every game for the Barbarians is massive and it’s all about putting on a world class show for the fans. Playing on such a big stage like Twickenham makes it even more special and helps build you as a player. The occasion makes you a better rugby player.

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“My main goal now is to get into Fiji’s final squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup and from there we will take every game as we go. We’ve got Australia in our first game so it’s going to be tough for us but we’re aiming to finish the tournament well.

“I’ve had a good season with Edinburgh and the club has been really good to me. They like to use my strength and my talent on the field and putting out a game plan that suits me and my abilities well. Building up to the World Cup I want to take those performances and put them into the Fiji team.

“Fiji and the Barbarians have a similar style of play, with less structure than most sides. We want to give the ball out wide and run from anywhere on the pitch. Hopefully I’ll be involved for Fiji when they return to Twickenham to play the Barbarians in November, after the World Cup.

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“It’ll be a really fast match as both teams just love to play the game. There will be more action from those two sides than you’ll find in almost any other game.”

The Barbarians return to Twickenham Stadium on Saturday 16th November to play Fiji in the Killik Cup. Tickets are on general sale now from www.ticketmaster.co.uk/barbarians with a special early bird offer and 50% off top price adult tickets for a limited time only

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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FEATURE Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby? Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?
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