FLYING Fijians assistant coach Tabai Matson expects a hostile reception when the side takes on Tonga in a Test match at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand this Saturday.
The match will serve as the final warm-up for the Flying Fijians before the side heads off to Japan for the Rugby World Cup next month.
Matson played two matches for Fiji at the 1999 RWC and also made ten appearances for the All Blacks but not at Test level.
The 46-year-old said it would be a Pacific Island challenge against one of their old foes.
“It is really important because we really want to perform well in our last official Test match before the RWC,” Matson said.
“It will be really tough because Eden Park is going to be a home game for Tonga so we are expecting a very hostile crowd.”
The Flying Fijians squad moved camp to Nadi from Suva yesterday after six days of training last week.
Matson, who has a wealth of coaching experience since first guiding Yamaha Jubilo in 2005, has rated this Flying Fijians squad highly.
He said there was a lot of selection debate for the upcoming fixture because of the depth and quality of the players in the squad.
“We have just come out of a camp in Suva last week and have worked on a lot of things specific for the RWC so we are feeling very positive,” Matson said.
“The boys were tired after last week as they trained really hard for six days.
“Today brings another challenge as we are back focused on Test match week with the game against Tonga.
“This group of boys is much better than of what was back in my years and they are really experienced.
“We are having selection conversations about the Tonga match which is great because it shows the depth and the quality of players we have across all positions now.”
