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Fiji's plan for Kamaishi: Show of respect... Then unleash hell
Fiji players will pause in silence before their Rugby World Cup game against Uruguay to commemorate those who died in the 2011 tsunami that devastated the region.
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Then the plan is to run relentlessly for 80 minutes and put on a show at the Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium on Wednesday.
The venue was built on the grounds of two schools destroyed by the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit much of Japan’s northeastern coastline.
After running Australia ragged for an hour last Saturday, Fiji lost their opener 39-21.
That has made them more determined to gain momentum in games against Uruguay and Georgia before their October 9 showdown with Wales that could have a quarter-finals spot at stake.
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Coach John McKee has made 12 changes to his starting line-up for the Uruguay game, two enforced by injuries and others to give back-up players valuable tournament experience and front-line stars a break.
“We are on a four-match series to qualify for the playoffs, so the Uruguay game is a very important part of that quest,” he said.
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Fiji captain Dominiko Waqaniburotu and Leone Nakarawa are the only remaining starters in the forward pack from last weekend.
Henry Seniloli and Josh Matavesi will combine in the halves, while Jale Vatubua is returning from a seven-week injury layoff to form a new midfield combination with Semi Radradra, who started against Australia on the wing.
Filipo Nakosi adds pace on one wing and Vereniki Goneva adds his try-scoring experience on the other.
This was only ever going to end one way for @wallabies coach Michael Cheika. https://t.co/QdI9vrfLsC #RWC2019 #AUSvFIJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 24, 2019
Uruguay will commence their campaign on Wednesday, having one of the longest waits to get going.
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Assistant coach Oscar Duran said they had taken advantage of the extended preparation time, and had the extra motivation of playing at Kamaishi.
“We are all aware of what happened with the tsunami here, (and) what it means for everyone in Kamaishi and all of Japan to be playing a Rugby World Cup match here,” he said.
Two sons of Uruguay great Diego Ormaechea – who in 1999 was the oldest player, at 40, to compete in the Rugby World Cup – have been included on the bench.
Fiji: Alivereti Veitokani, Filipo Nakosi, Semi Radradra, Jale Vatubua, Vereniki Goneva, Josh Matavesi, Henry Seniloli, Leone Nakarawa, Mosese Voka, Dominiko Waqaniburotu, Api Ratuniyarawa, Tevita Ratuva, Manasa Saulo, Mesulame Dolokoto, Eroni Mawi. Res: Tuvere Vugakoto, Campese Ma’afu, Lee-Roy Atalifo, Tevita Cavubati, Samuel Matavesi, Nikola Matawalu, Ben Volavola, Levani Botia.
Uruguay: Gaston Mieres, Nicolas Freitas, Juan Manuel Cat, Andres Vilaseca, Rodrigo Silva, Felipe Berchesi, Santiago Arata, Manuel Diana,Santiago Civetta, Juan Manuel Gaminara, Manuel Leindekar, Ignacio Dotti, Diego Arbelo, German Kessler, Mateo Sanguinetti. Res: Guillermo Pujadas, Facundo Gattas, Juan Pedro Rombys, Franco Lamanna, Juan Ormaechea, Agustin Ormaechea, Felipe Etcheverry, Tomas Inciarte.
– AAP
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments