THE Flying Fijians coach John McKee said his boys were taught a lesson from a formidable Japan side after their 21-34 loss on Saturday in the first round of the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup.
Trailing by 15 points at half time, Fiji kicked off the second half through catch-up rugby and it contributed to the team’s downfall against Japan.
McKee said they learnt a good lesson against Japan and would regroup this week before they face Canada at the ANZ Stadium in Suva.
“Once we were behind and chasing in the game, we lacked composure to build the pressure and also we tried to force the play too much which resulted in turnovers,” said McKee.
After beating the New Zealand Maori All Blacks earlier, Fiji fired a warning shot to many top teams and turned a blind eye on underdogs Japan.
“We’re going to take some very quick learnings from this game.
“We came here with high hopes and at the same time expected a tough game from a very good Japanese team,” McKee said.
He has a lot to work on in the team’s defence and attacking line.
“In defence, we made some critical mistakes, little system errors where players either didn’t understand their role properly or didn’t execute their role as they should have.
“We made some good breaks but we were not able to build the pressure as we were forced a last pass or offload which was turned over,” McKee said.
The team returns today and will regroup tomorrow for their match against Canada.
“We are looking forward to getting back to home and also win on home soil for our fans.”
The Fiji Airways Flying Fijians face Canada on Saturday at Suva’s ANZ Stadium and then play Samoa at the same venue on Saturday, August 10.
