SINKING deeper into another Nations Championship loss, the FIJI Water Flying Fijians left Liverpool yesterday with a 8-73 thrashing from England in a match that flipped the peacefulness of a Sunday back home.
And interim head coach Senirusi Seruvakula admitted his side was “destroyed” after stating last week they were “careless” in sending themselves to a 24-39 loss handed by Wales.
“I’m not giving any excuses; we just need to adapt. England was the best team today,” Seruvakula told British media after the damage was done.
“They played really well and they deserved the win because we gave away a lot of penalties.
“And our boys had a lack of focus from the start so that’s what destroyed us today.”
The half-time score of 3-35 for England indicated how Fiji was locked out of any opportunity to add points with five converted tries added for the Englishmen.
Simione Kuruvoli copped a rare permanent red card shown by referee Hollie Davidson in added time after the half-time hooter following a TMO review.
Kuruvoli had kicked out at England’s Ellis Genge and then stepped on his chest and the try scored by Kuruvoli in the process was eventually disallowed with England awarded a penalty instead.
While their performance would have had Fiji’s coaches draw up a long list of weaknesses, Seruvakula commended the squad for executing their set-pieces well.
“I think our set-piece, especially the scrum really worked well today,” he said.
Consequently, Fiji now sits at the bottom of the Nations Championship Southern Hemisphere rankings after two losses recorded in the United Kingdom in their home matches staged there.
They travel up to Scotland where they face the Scots in Glasgow this Sunday at 1.10am.
However, what now casts a darker shadow instead are the losses incurred by a team whose progression into the inaugural top-level competition was initially marked by optimism and a new way forward for Fiji, now overshadowed by results too sobering to absorb for the Fiji Rugby Union, its stakeholders, fans and the world watching.
