Just One Point to Eject Australia

The Flying Fijians now have the ability to limit their attacking horizons to dig themselves out of trouble as they prepare to clinch a Rugby World Cup quarter-final place against Portugal next weekend in France, says Northampton hooker Sam Matavesi.

Against Georgia, the Flying Fijians had to come back from 0-9 down in the first half to register a 17-12 win after one of their most stuttering performances this year.

The line out malfunctioned which reflected on both Matavesi and the rest of the unit and a repeat against a Portugal side that caused Australia real problems could be costly.

Fiji just needs one more point to ensure a last eight place and eject double former champions Australia from the Cup.

Matavesi said: “People think of Fiji and they think of fast-flowing and scoring tries from our own try line that are incredible, but I think as we’ve seen at this World Cup, to win these games, it’s set-piece first. Our line-out wasn’t good enough, we were losing collisions, but we still won.

Zuriel Togiatama, left and Eroni Mawi in a jovial mood while Tevita Ikanivere does his weights while they train in France on October 4, 2023. Photo: FRU Media

Portugal’s French coach Patrice Lagisquet said he had some regrets after his side scored the opening try through Pedro Bettencourt but then saw the centre sin-binned soon afterwards and conceded three tries while a man down.

That took the game away from them with two thirds of it still to play.

“There’s a mix of frustration and pride. Frustration because at 15 against 15 we would maybe have resisted better,” he said.

“The yellow card hurt us badly; we weren’t able to manage that period.

But it’s a joy to coach this team. They are imperfect, they have shortcomings, but they are so giving, exciting, they play complete rugby.

“It’s great to coach them and I think the players enjoy it and the crowd too.”

Next up it will be Fiji but Lagisquet admitted he is not confident.

“I’m a little worried about our next match against Fiji. They didn’t manage their game against Georgia well and I’m afraid they will want to make up for it against us.” Rugby.com

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