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Where Fiji need to improve to withstand imminent All Blacks backlash
Fiji head coach Vern Cotter knows his side did well in last week’s clash against the All Blacks in Dunedin.
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However, he is also aware there are areas his team needs to improve on if they are to back-up their impressive showing at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Saturday’s re-match at FMG Stadium Waikato.
The Flying Fijians’ presence at the breakdown in last week’s 57-23 defeat has been a focal point all week leading into the second test in Hamilton, but Cotter, who is expecting the All Blacks set to come out firing after being outmuscled in the collision area last time round, said there is still room for improvement there.
“Yeah we got a few turnovers. We got penalised a few times as well, so we definitely want to take away those penalties that are unnecessary — we still want to be competitive in that area,” Cotter said.
“Different field, different conditions this weekend — we’ll adapt to what we need to do to defend well, look for those turnovers but also not give away penalties, so it’s going to be a balance between that.”
New Zealand’s 34-point winning margin is deceptive of surface level as they only led Fiji by eight points with 20 minutes to go before their bench came on and blew their fatigued opponents out of the water in the final quarter of the match.
Cotter acknowledged that late blowout as a point of concern for his side, and the former Scotland coach said the onus is on Fiji to stay in the fight in the dying stages of the contest.
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“That’s a focus for us, to make sure we remain competitive all the way through the game and not give away soft tries and certainly tries from driven mauls from penalties.”
The arrival of halfbacks Frank Lomani, of the Melbourne Rebels, and Moses Sorovi, of the Queensland Reds, from Australia should help Fiji’s bid for prolonged consistency.
“A real buzz having two halfbacks in because, when we looked at the game [last week], we lost a bit of shape when Simione [Kuruvoli, last week’s starting halfback] went off,” Cotter said.
“Frank brings speed on the ball. We’ll be able to accelerate, move it quickly off the ground or keep it up. He’s a great defender as well in and around rucks and we feel there’s going to be a little more activity in and around that ruck area this weekend.”
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Lomai’s and Sororvi’s presence will also provide Fiji with some extra leadership after they lost inspirational captain and midfielder Levani Botia to injury.
Filling his role as skipper will be veteran lock Leone Nakarawa, who is confident of leading his team strongly in wet conditions in Waikato’s main centre.
“I think I have to lead by example and there’s a lot of young boys as well in the team, but they’ve been filling the big shoes very well and we’re all looking forward to the game,” he said.
“When we play it’s 23 that are going to play tomorrow so it’s a team game tomorrow.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Will rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
2 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
2 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to comments