Now or Never for Fiji Bulikula

The nation has been urged to stand behind the Voda­fone sponsored- Fiji Bu­likula side when they face the Australian Jillaroos in the Wom­en's Rugby League World Cup semi-final in Sydney on Sunday.

The call was made yesterday by Fiji National Rugby League ex­ecutive chairman Rajesh Singh.

"Please pray for the girls," he told SUNsports.

"The Bulikula is playing in their first World Cup and to reach the semi-final is a huge achievement in itself. They girls are going to give everything for their country in the semi-final as they are playing against the de­fending World Cup champions."

Meanwhile, Jillaroos hooker Olivia Higgins knows her side will need to be on their toes from the get-go when they take on Fiji in their historic semi-final.

While the Jillaroos have con­ceded just one try across their three pool games and amassed 242 points, Higgins said Aus­tralia would not be taking Fiji lightly.

The Bulikula have impressed in their debut IRL Rugby League World Cup, pushing the Kiwi Ferns to the limit in their open­ing match before securing strong wins over France and PNG.

"We've spoken as a team about that, their fast starts, they scored within the first 10 minutes of their last two games," Higgins told NRL.com.

"So we know what to expect... we'll be ready."

Higgins, who returns this week after serving as 18th player against Wales, said the 'pres­sure' to perform from outside was seen as a privilege, but in­ternally the goal remained to claim a fourth straight World Cup.

"Semi-final footy is differ­ent though and I think Fiji's had a really good campaign so far, so we're not taking them lightly at all... and obviously we

want to win the World Cup, but we're just focusing on the game ahead," she said.

"I know it's a bit cliche, but pressure is privilege. We train (hard), we've played all year, we've had pressured moments in our club, so I don't think we're really thinking too much (about outside expectations).

"Our theme for this week is excellence, and there's so many things that we can do within our playing group to be better.

"Everybody knows that indi­vidually and as a team, so for us, we'll be striving to get those 'one-percenters' and really make a mark again this weekend.

"I think we all trust what our coaching staff are doing here and we have a really great team, but like I said, if we can all lift that little bit extra, I think we'll have a really good run to the fi­nal."

The match will kick-off at 6.45pm (Fiji time) at the Allianz Stadium, followed by the Kanga­roos taking on Samoa.