The darling of the public since the start of the World Cup, Fiji challenge England on Sunday in the quarter-final. The 10th team in the world ranking wants to believe in its chances despite the difficulties shown during the last group match against modest Portugal. She hopes to be carried by the “madness of her fans”.
“In Fiji, it’s not excitement, it’s madness.” Seremaia Bai, one of the assistant coaches of the “Flying Fijians”, is categorical: everything is possible on Sunday October 15, during the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup against England in Marseille.
“Like in England, we are crazy about rugby in Fiji,” insisted the former three-quarter center of Clermont, Castres or the English club Leicester, during a press conference: “It’s a small island “In Fiji, people get up at 3 a.m., 5 a.m. (to watch the matches), and even the sick come back to life when we win.”
On Sunday, “we are not only going to play a quarter-final, we are going to play for our people, for the young people, for the people in the villages, it means a lot for them. It has been 16 years since we reached the quarter-finals,” he recalled. “Here we have a new opportunity available to us, we want to make the most of it.”
And in the event of victory, “it will be madness,” he assured. “Rugby is very important in Fiji, it gives us life, it makes everyone happy, it unites the country. Whatever the result, I hope the country will be proud of us.”
“In any case, we are the only team from Tier 2 (level 2) to have reached the quarter-finals, that is already something we should be proud of,” insisted the Fijians assistant coach. “As a Tier 2 nation, we don’t often get the opportunity to play Tier 1 teams like England. So for us this is an opportunity to go even further.”
Doubts arose
The former fly-half was not cooled by his team’s last two poor performances. While a boulevard was offered to them after their first success against the Wallabies (22-15) in 69 years, the Flying Fijians lost track of the promises seen as soon as they took on the costume of favorites against Georgia, beaten with difficulty 17-12, and especially Portugal (24-23 defeat).
They needed to score five points, an improved victory, against these two teams accustomed to the European B Tournament and considered weaker on paper. They scored five, but no more, leaving doubt about their real potential before the third quarter-final in their history.
In 1987, the Fijians also suffered two group defeats, before falling against France, the future finalist. In 2007, they were unable to do anything against South Africa, the eventual winner.
The pressure of the result, the grandeur of the event, surely played a role in the mental approach to the last two group matches this year. The first was narrowly won against the Lelos (17-12) a few hours after the announcement of the death of Josua Tuisova’s 7-year-old son following a long illness.
The second, Sunday, with a minimum point at stake to get ahead of the Australians in Pool C, almost turned into disillusionment. Especially when the Portuguese, revelations of this world championship, took control of the match by leading twice with a converted try.
Certainly, the Flying Fijians showed that they had resources by coming back to score each time and even briefly going ahead, but they have no margin, especially when they forget to structure their rugby as they had managed to do. do in sequences at the start of the competition.
The teammates of Levani Botia, a rare executive at the level, collapsed just before the siren against the Lusitanians (23-24), an unexpected defeat with three tries conceded but ultimately without consequence. Or almost.
The crazy hope of a semi-final
Doubts replaced the hopes born from their crazy start against the Welsh, during a meeting ended with a frustrating defeat (32-26) with a forward from Semi Radradra at the end of the line on the last action, and their conquest worthy of the best teams against the Wallabies a week later.
The transplant Simon Raiwalui, former 2nd line and captain (39 caps) appointed in February following the departure of Vern Cotter for personal reasons, cannot be called into question.
The former assistant coach of Racing 92 and Stade Français knew how to combine the DNA of the kings of rugby sevens with rigor on the fundamentals. He also succeeded in the amalgamation of Europeanized stars and local talents from the Drua franchise (18 of the 33 selected) playing in Super Rugby in the Southern Hemisphere.
With the qualification objective achieved, Fiji will have to show a completely different face, Sunday, in Marseille, against the XV de la Rose to break the glass ceiling of the quarter-finals.
If possible close to that shown 50 days ago during their historic victory at Twickenham (30-22) at the end of preparation, which launched them perfectly. “We expect it to be different”, however, nuance Seramaïa Baï
They know the recipe. The English now know their weaknesses.
With AFP
