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The England verdict on Levani Botia and a Fiji 'super strength'
England have given their verdict on the threat posed by Levani Botia, the Fijian breakdown menace who will be on a mission next Sunday to eliminate Steve Borthwick’s team from the Rugby World Cup.
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The Pool D-topping English have won their way through the quarter-finals by beating Argentina, Japan, Chile, and Samoa in successive matches at the finals, but they now face their biggest obstacle yet.
It was just over six weeks ago when Fiji came to Twickenham for the final match of the Summer Nations Series and secured a deserved 30-22 win.
Botia, the recent back-to-back Heineken Champions Cup winner with La Rochelle, didn’t play that August 26 afternoon in London against the English but he has gone on to impress at the World Cup, starting at openside in his team’s games versus Australia, Georgia and Portugal after an opening weekend appearance off the bench against Wales.
England back-rower Billy Vunipola saw first-hand the menace wielded by Botia just last April as he was pivotal when dominating the breakdown in their European win over Saracens. “The best thing about him is his technique,” reckoned the No8.
“He has got a very low centre of gravity and obviously his speed. I don’t think he plays 12 anymore but as a 12 who is now repositioned to seven, he is very fast about making the decision on whether to go for the ball or not.
“Just again, his height, if you give him an opportunity it becomes tough. But it is not just him, they have got other threats in terms of jackallers.
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“They have (Josua) Tuisova, their nine [Frank Lomani] loves a dabble and there are other players in and around their team that if the opportunity arises, if we are off in terms of our breakdown, they the big threats around the breakdown not just this weekend but in world rugby.”
So good is Botia that England assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth admitted it would be hard for them to have just one single player replicating on the training ground this week exactly how the Fijian plays. “Even if we got someone to do his role he might not be quite as effective as him,” he said.
“To be honest we have done that from the third or fourth week of pre-season. You had to prep for (Julian) Montoya versus Argentina, you had to prep for (Tommy) Reffell and (Jac) Morgan for Wales before that. We’ve had guys who on a non-physical day are just trying to touch the ball, just trying to get in there so that you are on red alert.
“There is not just knowing about the threat, there is all the shape stuff and where you have got to be and where you want to be and how quickly you react to different situations and structured stuff that Botia is a threat on. But then there is the unstructured, the kicking game where a ball bounces and suddenly he is there so it’s how alert we are on the back of it.
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“But to answer your question, there are definitely going to be people that are sticking their head in but we tend to do it in a much more respectful part in training. It’s more about the speed and we’ll use the intent and the physicality more on bags or in controlled situations… No one has got that job of getting filled for seven days.”
Wigglesworth added that the breakdown will be crucial to the outcome of Sunday’s result. “We need the breakdown to be as clean as we can. we know Fiji is exceptional in that area,” he continued on Tuesday in Aix-en-Provence ahead of a Marseille knockout game that will be refereed by Mathieu Raynal of France.
It was 26°C when England started their Rugby World Cup quarter-final training ground preparations on Tuesday in Aix-en-Provence. #EnglandRugby #ENGvFIJ #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/d1TinVXOOU
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 10, 2023
“To be perfectly honest you will learn something different every game because they all referee it slightly differently because that is human nature, it is going to be slightly different. You want guys to get out of that tackle zone before you can compete.
“Fiji will tend to just compete and then work it out from there, slowing it down or taking it off you. That is going to be a huge area of the game that we need to be the best that we have been because it’s definitely a super strength of theirs.”
Comments on RugbyPass
wel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
4 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
4 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
4 Go to commentsThink 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.
5 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!
5 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?
238 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.
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