AFTER the 38-34 win against Wales in the 2007 Rugby World Cup at Nantes, France, the amiable relationship between the two proud rugby nations has changed to that of serious rivalry.
Since the famous tour of 1964 by our national rugby team the gallant performance of rugby displayed by our men, led by Suliasi Cavu at Cardiff Arms Park has been the item of volumes of write-ups.
The heroism of Fijians when the odds were stacked against them, were subject of many books written and were the real live show of the stuff that Hollywood drama script writers only dream of.
Fiji were down to 14 men and fought back but Wales won.
The Welsh players were heroes in the eyes of their ecstatic supporters at the hallowed grounds of Cardiff Arms Park.
But the fighting spirit of the Fijians is inspired by the age old Fijian idiom of “leqa na qio qai kata” which means the shark will only bite when it is cornered or put in a tight spot.
Here is a write-up by Huw Richards in 2013 when Fiji celebrated 100 years of rugby.
“Dai Smith and Gareth Williams, were teenage fans when the Fijians visited, recalled them vividly when they wrote the Welsh Rugby Union’s incomparable official history Fields of Praise: “The Fijians were bright, they were exuberant and they were entertaining. Above all they ran.”
They did so to spectacular effect when they met a Welsh XV at the Arms Park.
They lost a man within 10 minutes, a grievous blow in the age before injury replacements were allowed. At one point they trailed 28-9 to Wales while not at full strength, include luminaries Dewi Bebb, Dai Watkins, Alun Pask and Brian Price among 10 players who would later play some part in Wales’ “triple crown” later in the season, plus teenage centre Maurice Richards, getting a first taste of representative honours.
The depleted tourists should have been exhausted in the closing stages. Instead they offered a foretaste of the explosion of scoring they would produce at Nantes more than 40 years later, not to mention the ability to play brilliantly when shorthanded which gave South Africa the most uncomfortable moments of their World Cup-winning campaign of 2007 with three tries in the final 13 minutes, reducing the final margin to 28-22.
Prop Sevaro Walisoliso completed a hat-trick and, reckoned veteran Welsh journalist JBG Thomas “had play continued a further five minutes, they might have won”.
Having budgeted for a loss, the Wales Rugby Union made a tidy profit.
Wales will now never forget that loss in 2007 because it was a World Cup decider for which team to go into the quarterfinal.
The loss was tragic in the eyes of Welshmen. The Welsh coach was sacked on the spot with the echo of the final whistle still ringing in everyone’s ears and the dust just settling down from celebrations as the grass sparkled with drops of blood, sweat and tears of both disappointment and joy.
Coached by Ilivasi Tabua, Rev Joji Rinakama and managed by Pio Bosco Tikoisuva and the Aussie technical advisers of Patrick Nunn, and trainer Henry Elder, they made a lethal combination.
When Fiji lost to Italy last year and five players were yellow-carded to break the record, someone suggested that the Welsh were still fuming because the referee was a Welshman.
Now coach John McKee has shown how effective his coaching style and ability to harness teamwork behind the scenes since his term as coach began last season.
The Vodafone Flying Fijians may be losing matches now but they are improving in the set pieces while in the breakdowns they are retaining possession but still slow in getting the ball away.
As seconds tick by the opposition managed to settle down into their defensive formation.
Timing is the essence and quick balls from breakdowns will definitely be McKee’s target to break down the Welsh walls of defence.
Our opposition England, Wales and Australia will monitor our team’s progress in this Autumn Tour and it will be at their own peril if they do not.
In 2007, Fiji were pushed around in the scrums and lost line-outs yet they managed to reach the quarter-finals and at one stage with a man down held eventual champions South Africa 20-20 in the final quarter.
Tomorrows’s match against Wales will be an interesting one for rugby fans.
They will want to test our scrums to prove what they had seen against France was the real deal.
The ground surface at France did not help the Fijian cause as Fiji will always be made the scapegoat in 50-50 and hairline refereeing decisions and that is why a couple of penalties went against us in that department.
Improving on other aspects of the game and build up from the performance in France will be a big win for Fijian rugby.
We have the plus of playing on this tour with a disadvantage of team preparation most importantly developing team combination.
We do not want to win here and send our opposition scampering for their scientists and psychologists to put up another state of the art defensive system.
Win at all costs is not the issue here but an improved performance is already a victory. Beating Wales will be the bonus.
On the other hand it always feels good to win. Go Fiji Go!
