The Junior Flying Fijians side recorded its first win of the World Rugby Under-20 Championship yesterday after defeating a strong Italy side, 41-26, in the ninth-place semi-finals.
The win ensures that Fiji has a spot in the competition next year.
Fiji head coach Ifereimi Rawaqa said they needed that win. Rawaqa was happy his side was able to run out on to the field and deliver.
“We have played our game today and we are very pleased with that. “Everyone was very confident. We said during our preparations in the week that we needed a win today and the boys were able to come out with a win,” Rawaqa said.
He said his side needed to work on their discipline, which led to them making a couple of mistakes, allowing their opponents to score.
“Our discipline let us down several times during the game and that allowed them to capitalise on our mistakes.”
In comparison with their previous pool games, Rawaqa said his side was unable to win a lot of possession during the game, adding this was another area they needed to look into.
“We won more than we did in our pool games, but we failed to turn it into more points.
“We need to stay tight and stay in the game for the whole 80 minutes.
“We can’t afford to drift in and out in this tournament.
“It’s something that we have talked about and that we have worked on.”
He also mentioned that his side wanted to leave South Africa on a high note, and they hoped to increase their ranking before doing so.
“We have talked about that already. “We want to finish on a high and leave South Africa with as high a ranking as we can.”
Meanwhile, skipper Motikai Murray said he was proud of the way his side performed, but admitted there were still a handful of areas they needed to work on.
“I am proud of the boys for their teamwork today.
“I know we made some mistakes during our pool games. We went back to our hotel, reviewed the games, saw our mistakes and we have come back stronger.”
The Junior Flying Fijians side will now face Argentina in the final for eighth place.
