1
Flying Fijians primed and ready for quarter-finals after 16 long years
Fijian fans have had to wait a long time for another Rugby World Cup quarter-final birth, 16 years to be precise, and their team is hungry to make the most of the opportunity before them.
ADVERTISEMENT
2023 didn’t start the way the Flying Fijians would have liked, moving on from coach Vern Cotter in a World Cup year put them in a similar boat to their quarter-final opponents England as well as the eliminated Australians. Needing to find a new leader and game plan in a few short months before rugby’s great showpiece.
The team hit the ground running under new coach Simon Raiwalui, they were destructive and clinical in their clean sweep of the Pacific Nations Cup. A competitive loss to France was followed by a historic day at Twickenham when the Fijians claimed a famous first-ever win over England.
The win further heightened expectations for the team’s Rugby World Cup campaign, expectations that the team have lived up to, finishing second in Pool C and qualifying for the knockout stages.
It’s a match 16 years in the making, and one there is plenty of excitement for.
“The boys have trained well this week, had a good session this morning, so they have prepared well,” Raiwalui told media. “We are looking forward to the match. It’s been a while since we’ve been in a quarter-final so we want to make the most of it.
“It’s massive for our country. We came to this tournament to succeed, we got through the first part and we want to continue. We are a nation of 900,000 people that lives and breathes rugby, and I don’t know how many Fijians worldwide. We had massive support from the French, from the people who come to the ground. We really want to enjoy the occasion and show our best rugby.”
The team’s captain Waisea Nayacalevu shared a similar sentiment.
ADVERTISEMENT
“It means everything to us. I know it has been 16 years since we have been in the quarter-finals and I told the boys the chance is in front of us and this moment will never come back so we will grab it with both hands, take responsibility and do the best we can.”
While in qualifying the team showed huge growth, the tournament has not been without its rough patches for the Fijians. A tight win over Georgia and a historic loss to Portugal nearly saw the team lose their shot at the quarter-finals after a hard-earned win over the Wallabies.
The roller coaster that was the Fijians’ pool stages had handed the coach come clear areas for improvement.
“I think we are still looking to free ourselves up. Obviously, we weren’t pleased that we lost last weekend and against Georgia, we were stagnant in attack. We have worked at freeing ourselves up and enjoying the occasion.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I don’t tend to look at the odds. If we prepare well, we will perform well. Full credit to Georgia and Portugal with how they played.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Think it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
3 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
3 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
237 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
20 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to comments