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'We’re humble' - Raiwalui rejects favourites tag
Fiji head coach Simon Raiwalui has cooled talk of his team being billed in some quarters as favourites for Sunday’s Rugby World Cup clash with Wales.
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Wales are currently below Fiji in the world rankings, while Raiwalui’s men saw their tournament preparations highlighted by an historic victory over England at Twickenham.
Fiji dumped Wales out of the 2007 World Cup, and they dominated proceedings early on in Japan four years ago before Wales wing Josh Adams’ try hat-trick inspired a 29-17 success.
“When could we ever be called favourites when we are considered a developing country versus a developed country – resources and those sort of things?” Raiwalui said.
“We are confident with our preparation, with our group. We never go in thinking we are favourites to win. We’re humble.
“We have worked hard throughout the eight-week (warm-up) campaign, and our focus has always been one week at time, what is the next challenge, what have we got coming up this weekend?
“We’ve been working towards this point, so we are totally focused on this game and nothing past this game. We understand Wales is a very good team, they’ve got a lot of experience so we understand the challenge and we’re looking forward to it.
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“We have worked on certain areas that have traditionally been a weakness for us, so it’s going to be a good challenge in those areas.
“One of my catchphrases is, ‘play like a Fijian’, so traditionally that is the offloading, the quick touch, the one touch, aggressive ball-carriers, the contact, our set-piece. So that is what I have really pushed.”
Raiwalui has strong links to Wales, having enjoyed a successful playing career with Newport, where his form gained him selection for Fiji’s 1999 World Cup squad.
“My youngest son was born in Newport and I played there for a while, so I’ve got a huge affinity for Newport and Wales,” he added.
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“I love the country. There are very similar cultures (to Fiji) in terms of family.
“Like all teams, they (Wales) will be keeping a few things under their belt specifically for their opening game. and we understand there will be some other challenges.
“I think they will look to attack us in the areas they think we are susceptible to, and obviously we will look to impose our game as well.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 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.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 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.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to comments