The FIJI Water Flying Fijians will not take Portugal lightly knowing that Os Lobos will be no pushover during the Rugby World Cup Pool C match at Stadium De Toulouse on Monday.
Portugal will be chasing their first win of the tournament and hope to get it done against Fiji in their last game.
Fiji will need a win to progress to the quarter-final stages.
Fiji scrum coach Graham Dewes said he had watched Portugal’s games and was impressed with some of their plays.
The former Fiji prop forward said Portugal could not be underestimated.
“Portugal have got some really good forwards.
They matched the Australia forward pack, particularly in the scrum, pushed them around a couple of times,” Dewes said.
“It wasn’t a shock to me because watching their games, they’ve been going quite well.
“Just like any other team in this comp, if you take them lightly they’ll put you to the sword.”
Fiji enters the match after a below par performance to close out a come from behind 17-12 win Georgia at Stade de Bordeaux last Sunday.
Dewes said the players were excited and raring to put things right against Portugal.
“The boys were excited about the challenge against Georgia, but we didn’t do as well as we had hoped.
“So it’s given us a chance to just reflect on ourselves and bring energy to training with the hopes that we will do a good job on the weekend against Portugal.”
Fiji’s tight-head prop Peni Ravai said the match would be a good battle in the forwards.
“It’ll be a good competition. I’ve been watching their scrums, so it’ll be a good battle up front.
“We’ll stick to our processes, our basics and everything will be all right this weekend,” said the Queensland Reds player.
The match kicks off at 7am.
