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'We’re humble' - Raiwalui rejects favourites tag
By PA
Fiji head coach Simon Raiwalui has cooled talk of his team being billed in some quarters as favourites for Sunday’s Rugby World Cup clash with Wales.
Wales are currently below Fiji in the world rankings, while Raiwalui’s men saw their tournament preparations highlighted by an historic victory over England at Twickenham.
Fiji dumped Wales out of the 2007 World Cup, and they dominated proceedings early on in Japan four years ago before Wales wing Josh Adams’ try hat-trick inspired a 29-17 success.
“When could we ever be called favourites when we are considered a developing country versus a developed country – resources and those sort of things?” Raiwalui said.
“We are confident with our preparation, with our group. We never go in thinking we are favourites to win. We’re humble.
“We have worked hard throughout the eight-week (warm-up) campaign, and our focus has always been one week at time, what is the next challenge, what have we got coming up this weekend?
“We’ve been working towards this point, so we are totally focused on this game and nothing past this game. We understand Wales is a very good team, they’ve got a lot of experience so we understand the challenge and we’re looking forward to it.
“We have worked on certain areas that have traditionally been a weakness for us, so it’s going to be a good challenge in those areas.
“One of my catchphrases is, ‘play like a Fijian’, so traditionally that is the offloading, the quick touch, the one touch, aggressive ball-carriers, the contact, our set-piece. So that is what I have really pushed.”
Raiwalui has strong links to Wales, having enjoyed a successful playing career with Newport, where his form gained him selection for Fiji’s 1999 World Cup squad.
“My youngest son was born in Newport and I played there for a while, so I’ve got a huge affinity for Newport and Wales,” he added.
“I love the country. There are very similar cultures (to Fiji) in terms of family.
“Like all teams, they (Wales) will be keeping a few things under their belt specifically for their opening game. and we understand there will be some other challenges.
“I think they will look to attack us in the areas they think we are susceptible to, and obviously we will look to impose our game as well.”
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Latest Comments
Excellent game management in the last 15 or so minutes to close it out. Aussie got a bit panicky.
Go to commentsWhile all this is going on… I’ve been thinking more about the NFL draft system and how to make the commercial elements of the game more sustainable for SA teams who precariously live on the fringe of these developments. SA teams play in Europe now, and are welcome, because there’s a novelty to it. SA certainly doesn’t bring the bucks (like a Japan would to SR) but they bring eyes to it. But if they don’t perform (because they don’t have the money like the big clubs) - it’s easy come easy go… I think there is an element of strategic drafting going on in SA. Where the best players (assets) are sort of distributed amongst the major teams. It’s why we’re seeing Moodie at the Bulls for example and not at his homegrown Western Province. 20-30 years ago, it was all about playing for your province of birth. That has clearly changed in the modern era. Maybe Moodie couldn’t stay in the cape because at the time the Stormers were broke? Or had too many good players to fit him in? Kistchoff’s sabbatical to Ireland and back had financial benefits. Now they can afford him again (I would guess). What I am getting at is - I think SA Rugby needs to have a very strong strategy around how teams equitably share good youth players out of the youth structures. That is SA’s strong point - a good supply of good players out of our schools and varsities. It doesn’t need to be the spectacle we see out of the states, but a system where SA teams and SA rugby decide on where to draft youth, how to fund this and how to make it that it were possible for a team like the Cheetahs (for example) to end up with a team of young stars and win! This is the investment and thinking that needs to be happening at grassroots to sustain the monster meanwhile being created at the top.
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