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Fiji set for massive clash at beginning of 2020 Test season

By Tom Vinicombe
Peceli Yato was in supreme form for the 25 minutes he was on the pitch in the RWC game between Fiji and Australia. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

It hasn’t been a great World Cup from Fiji, purely from a numbers point of view.

The Pacific Islands have won just one of their four pool matches.

John McKee’s side were expected to push for a playoff spot but have instead found themselves well down the ladder in Pool D, likely ending 9 points short of the second-placed Australia.

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Their campaign was effectively drained of any fuel when they collapsed against Uruguay in their second fixture of the competition.

Taking a more charitable approach, however, it’s becoming clearer every day why the Flying Fijians need to be playing top-tier opposition on the regular.

Continue reading below…

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Their loss to Uruguay was a huge disappointment, but it came just days after Fiji almost managed to tip over Australia, having led the match for three-quarters of the game.

Fiji’s final clash, against the high-riding Welsh, was one of the fixtures of the tournament. Fiji again led for sizeable periods throughout the game and, despite their tournament being all but over, there was fire in their belly.

The Pacific Island sides have been neglected for far too long.

The Nations Championship was touted as a way to give the likes of Fiji and Japan greater opportunities against tier one sides but that was quashed by some unhappy campers north of the equator.

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When the Nations Championship died, it was wrongly assumed that Fiji’s chances for a bigger slice of the pie were scuppered – but that overlooks the new-format Test calendar that will kick off from 2020.

In 2017, World Rugby first unveiled their plans for the Test season post the 2019 World Cup.

Changes included moving the mid-year international matches from June to July, increasing tours by tier one nations to places like the Pacific Islands, Georgia and America, and introducing a “rotation principle that includes emerging rugby powers (which) will deliver greater schedule equity, promoting more meaningful, compelling fixtures and supporting World Rugby’s objective to increase the competitiveness of the global game”.

The impact of the new calendar is finally starting to make itself known, with Fiji potentially in-line to have a packed mid-year Test season in 2020.

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The Sydney Morning Herald have today reported that Australia will likely play host to Fiji in July next year after playing Ireland in a two-match series.

Whilst a game in Fiji was an option, it appears that the fixture will be played in Australia due to the financial and logistical challenges of taking the game to the Pacific.

A game is also on the cards between Fiji and New Zealand in 2021.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that Wales will play the All Blacks twice in 2020, with Scotland also touring for one match. Both those sides, as well as Ireland, will have to pad out their schedules to include three games each – which could mean we see games taken to the Pacific Islands.

Other options for tour destinations include Japan, South Africa or Argentina. The latter two, in particular, are significantly further afield than the likes of Fiji and Samoa.

One way or another, it looks like rugby in the Pacific is on the rise.

RugbyPass sat down with former Wales international Jamie Roberts to discuss the highs and lows of his Rugby World Cup experience:

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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 10 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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