Portugal back rower Nicolas Martins says they do not expect the FIJI Water Flying Fijians to do them any favours in their Rugby World Cup match in Toulouse.
Fiji will face Georgia in Bordeaux on Sunday while Portugal takes on Australia in Saint-Étienne on Monday. Both matches kick-off at 3.45am. Martins said Fiji’s style of play was something that inspired Portugal.
“They’re a very skilful team, but they’re also very physical,” he said.
“They won their last match, so that shows they’re making progress too. Now we’re going to work on Australia (before we play Fiji).
“We know that they’re a much more physical team than us and, above all, that they’ll be playing for qualification against us, for third or second place.
“Clearly, we’re expecting some big games here; they won’t do us any favours.”
He said with Fiji’s fast-paced game, they hoped to hold their own. Portugal has yet to register a win at the RWC in France, losing to Wales and playing a draw against Georgia.
“We’ll see. We’ll have to manage our fatigue and how we feel during the week. I think we’ve already made a success of our World Cup by achieving this result. It’s going to be a bonus, and we’ll enjoy it as much as we can.”
