No Time To Rest As We Get Closer To The Rugby World Cup

Congratulations to the FIJI Water Flying Fiji­ans on their unbeaten run winning the Pacific Nations Cup.

The 35-12 drubbing of Japan in Tokyo on Saturday night cemented the PNC win.

This is a big boost as they get closer to the Rugby World Cup in France, which gets underway on Sep­tember 8.

Japan is in the Tier One along with France and Eng­land, who are going to be our next opponents before the RWC.

The hallmark of Fiji’s win in Tokyo was the way they had approached the game. It was a sign of ma­turity.

With a one-man advantage early in the first half, the Flying Fijians kept on what they were supposed to do. The forwards doing all the hard work in gaining every inch of territory while Simione Kuruvoli and Ben Volavola were putting those stab kicks behind the opposition where they were pressured into mak­ing mistakes.

They kept at that until the openings came as they ran in three converted tries in the first half and in the second half managed two more tries with three being disallowed by the TMO referee on earlier in­fringements.

The ability for our players to stick to the game plan throughout the match was a promising sign.

However, the emergence of our RWC pool oppo­nents Wales who walloped England 20-9 in Cardiff yesterday morning and Australia’s narrow 23-20 loss to the All Blacks in Dunedin, means there is still a lot of work to be done.

That simply means the Flying Fijians cannot rest of their laurels after the PNC win.

It’s about working harder and smarter.

Former head coach Vern Cotter said it right when once asked on Fiji’s best approach to the RWC.

“It’s about humbleness, hard work and be the best player you can be,” he remarked.

It’s best for our Flying Fijians to turn a deaf ear on all the praises ringing at them by rugby writers around the globe but place their focus on the task ahead.

Every criticism made on them should be taken in a positive light and be used as a stepping stone to the team’s success. There’s no need for the team to be de­fensive in answering them.

So, let’s keep up the good work and continue on from where you’ve left off, it will surely pay off in the end.

Story By: Leone Cabenatabua

Feedback:leonec@fijisun.com.fj