It's not about the win, but how the Flying Fijians won

The future looks bright for the Flying Fijians.

It was not because of the 33-19 win over Spain in Valladolid, yesterday morning. It was how the Waisea Nayacalevu-captained side had executed their game especially when Spain was determined to beat them in front of their stadium jam packed with fans.

The Flying Fijians were behind 7-10 at halftime.

They had two disallowed tries and a couple of controversial decisions by South African referee Marne Ferreira.

This was Ferreira's first overseas assignment, which explained why he was relying more on his fellow-countrymen Quinton Immelman who was the TMO (Television Match Official).

Nayacalevu at times disputed Ferreira's decisions, instead of the Fijians being frustrated and taking matters into their hands and losing the plot, which had been the practice of the past, they did otherwise.

With Spain extending their lead to 19-7, the Flying Fijians showed maturity in their approach, as they played as a unit and began to exploit loopholes in the Spain's defence. The changed their style of play, maintained their discipline before they ran in tries to Sireli Maqala, Nayacalevu, Sam Matavesi and 18-year-old lanky lock Seta Turagacoke who came in as a substitute.

This was a big positive as the Flying Fijians held their composure and trusted in the system set by head coach Mick Byrne and his co-coaches.

Our build-up to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia is on track. The next match for the Flying Fijians is the Test match against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, this Sunday (Fiji time).

With Wales already beaten, the challenge now for the Flying Fijians is to continue on their winnin run against the Tier One nations, which is not an impossible task for them.

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