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Fiji player ratings vs Wales | 2024 Autumn Nation Series
By Ian Cameron
Fiji player ratings:Fiji's performance in Cardiff was far from flawless, yet their unwavering heart and determination propelled them to a historic first Test victory at the Principality Stadium.
Here's how we rated the Fiji players:
1. Eroni Mawi – 7
Mawi was solid in the scrum and made a few powerful runs early on, but faded as the game wore on. Threw in a turnover for good measure as a bonus.
2. Tevita Ikanivere – 7.5
Ikanivere tackled his heart out and was busy throughout, doggedly pursuing Welsh ball carriers as if they owed him money. A few errors under pressure slightly diminished an otherwise industrious outing.
3. Samu Tawake – 6
Held his own in the scrum but his maul infringement that saw what would have been a critical Fiji penalty try binned off just before halftime was classic coach-killer stuff. Against that proved a nuisance at the breakdown for the Welsh.
4. Isoa Nasilasila – 7
A physical presence in the tight exchanges and aggressive in the breakdown. Showed good awareness and was one of the few players keeping composure under pressure.
5. Temo Mayanavanua – 7
Carried well and put in a few big tackles, but was caught out of position at times as Wales exploited gaps in Fiji’s defensive line. Workrate was admirable.
6. Meli Derenalagi – 7
An all-action display from Derenalagi, who was everywhere on the field, making tackles and winning turnovers. One of Fiji’s more consistent performers.
7. Kitione Salawa – 6.5
His zeal occasionally led to overcommitment, resulting in a few missed tackles and fumbles. Overall, a strong performance with room for refinement.
8. Elia Canakaivata – 6.5
Canakaivata was deservedly yellow-carded for his role in collapsing a Welsh maul which resulted in a penalty try for the home side. Had a great PNC but this outing was a shape-learning curve.
9. Frank Lomani – 6
Lomani began with sharply enough but under increased Welsh pressure, his accuracy waned, leading to turnovers that disrupted Fiji's momentum. Early promise was overshadowed by later inconsistencies.
10. Caleb Muntz – 9
Outstanding. His decision-making and distribution were spot-on, consistently creating from limited opportunities. His kicking game was equally impressive, keeping the scoreboard moving. A standout first-half try from the 25-year-old whets the appetite for what this guy can do.
11. Semi Radradra – 2
Radradra was often called upon as a first receiver by Fiji early but, an experiment that didn't produce much fruit. His red card for a reckless hit on Cameron Winnett ended any chance of redemption.
12. Josua Tuisova – 8
Scary man Tuisova made numerous carries, consistently challenging the Welsh line but Wales did a decent job containing him, stifling his impact in first half. The dam burst in the second half when eventually got a one-on-one with Blair Murray and he didn't need to be asked twice. A huge fend led to a critical Fiji penalty in the 75th minute.
13. Waisea Nayacalevu – 8.5
After a slow start, the Sale Sharks man found his rhythm, delivering massive defensive hits that disrupted Wales' momentum. His threat with ball in hand increased as the game wore too, even if his defensive reads fluctuated between clairvoyant and purblind.
14. Jiuta Wainiqolo – 6
Wainiqolo was looking for offloads and creating space but was more often busy than effective. Struggled under high balls and missed a couple of key tackles, giving Wales an edge in the wide channels.
15. Vuate Karawalevu – 7
Getting skinned by Blair Murray for Wales' first try was a bad start and he had a few shaky moments under the high ball, his positional play leaving space for Wales to exploit. Showed plenty of attacking flair though and but for a forward pass would have scored the match-winner in the 73rd minute.
REPLACEMENTS
16. Sam Matavesi – 6.5
Made an impact off the bench, solid in the set-piece and eager in open play.
17. Haereiti Hetet – 5
Came on at 60 minutes but struggled to make a significant impact in the scrums and around the park.
18. Jone Koroiduadua – 6
Provided some fresh energy in the scrum and looked to get involved around the fringes.
19. Mesake Vocevoce – 6
Limited time on the field and wasn’t able to influence the game as much as he would have liked. Contributed to the defensive effort, especially at the breakdown.
20. Albert Tuisue – 6
Added some physicality off the bench. Showed intent on both sides of the ball but had limited opportunities to impact the game in open play.
21. Simione Kuruvoli – 7
Brought a real spark and threat when he came on.
22. Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula – N/A
23. Sireli Maqala – 7
Added some dynamism in attack and was a handful for the Welsh defence in his brief appearance.
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Latest Comments
They would improve a lot of such a scheme were allowed though JD, win win :p
Go to commentsI rated Lowe well enough to be an AB. Remember we were picking the likes of George Bridge above such players so theres no disputing a lot of bad decisions have been made by those last two coaches. Does a team like the ABs need a finicky winger who you have to adapt and change a lot of your style with to get benefit from? No, not really. But he still would have been a basic improvement on players like even Savea at the tail of his career, Bridge, and could even have converted into the answer of replacing Beauden at the back. Instead we persisted with NMS, Naholo, Havili, Reece, all players we would have cared even less about losing and all because Rieko had Lowe's number 11 jersey nailed down.
He was of course only 23 when he decided to leave, it was back in the beggining of the period they had started retaining players (from 2018 onwards I think, they came out saying theyre going to be more aggressive at some point). So he might, all of them, only just missed out.
The main point that Ed made is that situations like Lowe's, Aki's, JGP's, aren't going to happen in future. That's a bit of a "NZ" only problem, because those players need to reach such a high standard to be chosen by the All Blacks, were as a country like Ireland wants them a lot earlier like that. This is basically the 'ready in 3 years' concept Ireland relied on, versus the '5 years and they've left' concept' were that player is now ready to be chosen by the All Blacks (given a contract to play Super, ala SBW, and hopefully Manu).
The 'mercenary' thing that will take longer to expire, and which I was referring to, is the grandparents rule. The new kids coming through now aren't going to have as many gp born overseas, so the amount of players that can leave with a prospect of International rugby offer are going to drop dramatically at some point. All these kiwi fellas playing for a PI, is going to stop sadly.
The new era problem that will replace those old concerns is now French and Japanese clubs (doing the same as NRL teams have done for decades by) picking kids out of school. The problem here is not so much a national identity one, than it is a farm system where 9 in 10 players are left with nothing. A stunted education and no support in a foreign country (well they'll get kicked out of those countries were they don't in Australia).
It's the same sort of situation were NZ would be the big guy, but there weren't many downsides with it. The only one I can think was brought up but a poster on this site, I can't recall who it was, but he seemed to know a lot of kids coming from the Islands weren't really given the capability to fly back home during school xms holidays etc. That is probably something that should be fixed by the union. Otherwise getting someone like Fakatava over here for his last year of school definitely results in NZ being able to pick the cherries off the top but it also allows that player to develop and be able to represent Tonga and under age and possibly even later in his career. Where as a kid being taken from NZ is arguably going to be worse off in every respect other than perhaps money. Not going to develop as a person, not going to develop as a player as much, so I have a lotof sympathy for NZs case that I don't include them in that group but I certainly see where you're coming from and it encourages other countries to think they can do the same while not realising they're making a much worse experience/situation.
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