Why Is Fiji Treated so Badly in the World of Rugby?

Fiji have been the best team to watch at the World Cup – why does rugby treat them so badly?

Teams from outside the elite of world rugby continue to struggle financially and tier-one sides won’t even play against them.

“Everyone’s second-favourite team.”

That was the rather patronising epithet ascribed to Fiji after they were knocked out of the Rugby World Cup on Monday (Fiji time). They deserved better.

But in truth they would be more than happy to be more people’s second-favourite team, including those in charge of rugby union.

Because at present, Fiji, and everything they represent in rugby, are a lot further down the pecking order.

The irony is that it is only these “plucky losers” who make the tournament feasible by providing opposition for the big boys of world rugby. But now that we’ve reached the business end of the World Cup, the established elites can stop pretending to care about Fiji, Tonga, Portugal et al for another four years.

And yet after dispatching the last of what World Rugby might prefer to call “the rest”, Steve Borthwick, coach of an England team whose union turn over £200m (FJ$561m) a year, was the one claiming the world was against him.

“Let’s not forget this team was written off, and we will be written off again going to Paris,” Borthwick said

“I don’t really care what other people think of us. I care about the development of the team.”

Fiji's players hug at the end of the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal match between England and Fiji at the Stade de Marseille in Marseille, France, Sunday on October 15, 2023. Photo: Pavel Golovkin/AP

By: JamesGray

• James Gray is a sports news correspondent for the i newspaper and inews.co.uk. He covers major on and off-field developments in tennis, F1, football, rugby and boxing, and covers the Olympics patch. He previously freelanced for the Metro, Eurosport and talkSPORT and before that was a sports reporter for the Daily Express.