Rugby: Rugby-Fiji must get back to the drawing board as England clash looms

TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) – Fiji just managed to qualify for the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals but, having lost to minnows Portugal in their final Pool C game, are fully aware they will need to dramatically improve to beat England next weekend.

Fiji were way too clumsy against an equally attacking Portugal in Toulouse and ended up losing 24-23, going through at the expense of Australia on the head-to-head result.

The Pacific Islanders had shown worrying signs in their 17-12 victory against Georgia and it was as if no lessons were learned for Sunday’s clash.

Countless handling errors and poor choices in attack meant they were always on the edge and if Levani Botia’s yellow card for a dangerous tackle had turned red during the bunker review, Fiji might be on their way home.

“We didn’t execute a lot of our plays, dropped a lot of balls and they (Portugal) took advantage of our mistakes. I salute them and congratulate them on the win,” Fiji captain Waisea Nayacavelu said.

“For us, we’ve got to go back and look at our mistakes and our work-ons. But we’ve qualified now and we have to switch our focus now on to next week.”

Nayacavelu said his team needed to do some fine-tuning before Sunday’s clash against England in Marseille, but they will need more of a revamp if they are not to be crushed by a team who will surely be a tougher nut to crack.

As coach Simon Raiwalui pointed out, England are a team who raise their level in the knockout phases and they will not easily miss what could be a golden opportunity to reach the semi-finals.

“We’re going to have to rest and recover. England are a very good tournament team and we’re expecting a tough game. We’ll regroup, review and then get on to England,” he said.

Nerves will play a part too and Fiji did not exactly handle those well against Portugal, showing repeated signs of frustration.

“We were a bit tight in the context of the game. Created lots of opportunities but we just didn’t throw the ball out to our outside backs,” said Raiwalui.

Whether it is the team who beat Australia 22-15 or the one who lost to Portugal showing up against England for the country’s third appearance in the World Cup quarter-finals might well determine Fiji’s fate at the Stade Velodrome.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris)