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Cotter's message to Fiji after big win over new look Tonga
By Chris Jones
Head coach Vern Cotter is refusing to get carried away despite his Fiji team hammering Tonga 36-0 and wants another battling performance when they face Australia A at Churchill Park in Lautoka next weekend.
Cotter expects a reaction from an Australia side that lost 31-26 to Samoa who now take on Tonga who lost star full back Israel Folau to injury in their disappointing loss to the hosts of the Pacific Nations Cup competition.
Securing the Cup is key for Cotter as he prepares for the November tests in the Northern Hemisphere and next year’s Rugby World Cup in France and he is expected to boost his line up against the Australians by recalling key players who were rested for the Tonga clash.
Cotter told local media: “We’re happy with a win. I thought our set pieces were pretty good - our lineouts and scrum were greatly effective. I think we got five points moving forward and if we look at the content of the game, we will be disappointed with ourselves. We made the game difficult, but in saying that there was probably more good and the intention was to fight. The boys fought well – start to finish – it was perfect that I really felt that desire had to do well.
“I spoke to the boys and they found the game very difficult. So, there’s something for us to work on and improve for next week. They ( the new players) were well supported by the old hands and what was pleasing to the whole squad was they were involved from the beginning of the week. They went out with confidence and I was impressed with the performance.
“That’s good for us and provides competition for spots in the team and gives us more depth. I’m sure they’ll be ready. If we need them, they’ll be there.
“It’s (the PNC) great for all four teams moving forward, Tonga going for the World Cup qualifier, Samoa going for a lot of strength and they bring some overseas boys down here for experience.”
Fiji captain Waisea Nayacalevu, is also looking for improvements and said:“We are not satisfied, but we did some mistakes on the field and we’ll learn from there and take it to Australia A next week. Especially, our discipline on our off-side and in the rucks.”
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I’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. Second, New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
Go to commentsThose are pretty good draws for the two top Aussie teams. I certainly wouldn't want my Chiefs to have a quarter final in Brisbane. None of the top teams will want the Crusaders.
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