Fiji coach makes bold prediction as ten plays eight in the world rankings
Fiji may have never beaten France but head coach John McKee is predicting victory at Stade de France thanks to the inside knowledge his players have on the opposition.
The Top 14 domestic competition provides employment for hundreds of players from the Pacific Islands nations with Fijians the biggest group operating with French clubs. McKee, who saw his men hammer Uruguay 68-7, is confident this experience of French rugby will help close the rankings gap which sees Fiji at No10 and France listed at No8.
Fiji suffered a 54-17 loss to Scotland at Murrayfield which was a body blow to a squad that contains some of the most lethal attacking talent in World rugby and McKee said: "There were some hard questions posed around selection this week and the team to run on the field is the team we believe will beat France.
“They (France) will go into the last game of the November Test series with some confidence from their win against Argentina. We know that once again we must be on top of our game in our team defence and to counter their maul. Our players are very aware of the strengths and weakness of the French players as they play against them in the France Top 14 and European Cup matches.
“Against Uruguay we kept our standards up right through the game, not only in attack but worked hard in defence and having another week of preparation and game behind us holds us in good stead for the final test in the series this weekend.
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“Discipline and high work rate will be vitally important this week. Penalties conceded can give the opposition opportunity to put us under pressure and we must be mentally ready for the intensity levels of a Tier 1 Test match.”
The introduction of Toulon wing Josua Tuisova is the only change to the team that lost to Scotland, with Metui Talebula, of Bayonne, moving to fullback.
Fiji: 15 Metuisela Talebula, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Jale Vatubua, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Frank Lomani, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Peceli Yato, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu (captain), 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Tevita Cavubati, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Campese Maafu.
Replacements: 16 Mesulame Dolokoto, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Kalivati Tawake, 19 Albert Tuisue, 20 Semi Kunatani, 21 Henry Seniloli, 22 Alivereti Veitokani, 23 Eroni Sau.
Latest Comments
Yeah they're away of it too. It was brought up in one of the Italian focused articles. They are performing now and trying to move out of that 'being in awe' type attitude.
Very easy to say we're good enough to put all our focus on wining this last big game of the year (this one) though, you also need to be consistent and still perform in the other games (slip up against Georgia) and not get ahead of yourself. Not think you're too good for teams like Argentina and Georgia just because theres a shift in attitude towards thinking 'were good enough to beat anybody now'. Hope they go forward from here but I think this performance is still only good enough to keep them off wooden spoon 6N position (keep them well away from the bottom mind you).
Go to commentsYeah I predicted (out of thin air) it to be more like 30 points between them. You don't think it wasn't more like that because they picked jaded players?
Will have a look at the game now I guess.
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