The Flying Fijians were met with a challenging and high-intensity game in their first Rugby World Cup pool match that could potentially benefit their team.
Coach Simon Raiwalui shared in a post-match press conference that games like the one against Wales can enhance the team’s overall performance.
Raiwalui emphasises the physicality, demand, and intensity of competing against top-tier teams at the highest level, which can push his men to their limits.
“These are the games that we want to play more often. I think the more often we get these games, the better we get. I think that consistency of matches, playing at the highest level. I think the Flying Fijians have shown that we improve every time we play.”
“It’s a tough one,” said captain Waisea Nayacalevu, who scored the first of Fiji’s four tries, earning them a second bonus point. “We are really disappointed because we put a massive amount of effort in and credit to the boys, we worked hard until the end.
“That last pass, man…it’s quite hard but we have got to learn from that and move on to next week.”
Flying Fijians head coach Simon Raiwalui said his side made “too many mistakes”.
“We were just not clinical enough,” he added. “We had two or three try-scoring opportunities and we had two disallowed – we have got to take our chances.”
Raiwalui says now that they have their learnings on the board, they will go back to review and be better.
Meanwhile, there has been a lot of discussion surrounding the referee’s decisions during the Fiji Water Flying Fijians’ Rugby World Cup pool game against Wales.
This topic has quickly spread on social media, with notable figures like former Fiji 7s Olympic gold-medal-winning coach, Ben Ryan, pointing out the referee’s inconsistent calls during the game that took place this morning.
Ryan posted on the social media platform “X”, formerly known as Twitter, and pointed out that Wales had conceded multiple penalties without receiving a single yellow card, while Fiji committed one on their line, resulting in Lekima Tagitagivalu being sent to the sin bin.
Flying Fijians coach Simon Raiwalui says as a coach, they expect consistency from officials calling their matches.
“It’s difficult, the referees have a tough job, I respect what they do, as a coach you’re looking for that consistency. We’ll review the game and have a look at what comes up but there were a couple of occasions where we thought things could’ve been different.”
The 32-26 loss to Wales means the Flying Fijians will need to win their remaining pool matches to strengthen their chances of making the quarterfinals.
They face Australia next Monday at 3.45 a.m.
SOURCE: FBC NEWS/PACNEWS
