1
‘Make some history’: Fiji assistant coach on ‘surreal’ win over England
Flying Fijians assistant coach Glen Jackson has reflected on the “pretty surreal” win over Steve Borthwick’s England at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon.
ADVERTISEMENT
With just two weeks to go until the upcoming Rugby World Cup, Fiji made history by beating England for the first time in seven meetings.
It was one of the greatest days in the history of Fijian Rugby. Fiji leapfrogged England on the World Ranking rankings too as they surged up to seventh place.
Playing at one of the most famous rugby stadiums in the world, Fiji fell behind 8-nil after a try to England wing Jonny May in the ninth minute. But the visitors were always in the fight, and showed plenty of resilience as they fought their way into the lead.
Fiji went down to 14 men after a yellow card to Eroni Mawi just before the break, but ended up taking the lead inside the opening five minutes of the second term. The rest was history as they held on for a historic 22-30 win.
“It was pretty surreal,” Jackson said on The Platform. “One of our big things during the week was (to) be the first team to beat England and make some history on the way to the World Cup.
“It’s certainly great for the boys to come off with the victory in such a great place to play rugby in. It gives us a fair bit of confidence going into the World Cup in a couple of weeks.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Jackson, who represented the Chiefs during his playing days and later became a world-renowned referee, has been an assistant coach with Fiji for a few years.
After taking up the role under former coach Vern Cotter, Jackson has stayed on as the teams attack and backs coach under new boss Simon Raiwalui.
The rugby guru has been in the role for quite some time, and has seen a telling change in how the team plays when they have “a really good build-up.”
“We won three games with Samoa and Tonga and then Japan, so it gave us a fair of confidence coming out of that,” the former referee added.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Then we played France last week and I thought the boys actually played pretty well against France. They’re a big old team.
“It’s been a really good buildup for us, and having the boys together for eight weeks already, it gives us a real good chance to work on things that you probably don’t do in small campaigns with the Fijian boys.
“Normally, November internationals or the Autumn November window, you get them the first week before the game so you don’t really get any chance to be able to implement the things that you need to.
“Obviously it helps with the Drua now and the other being with us at the Drua, so we at least get some continuity there.
“This is definitely the biggest build-up we’ve had and it’s needed to go into such a big tournament.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
20 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
44 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
4 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
44 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
44 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
4 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
7 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
7 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to comments