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‘Dug ourselves into a hole’: Fiji beat Ireland but miss Singapore quarters

Fiji group together before a match at SVNS Singapore. Picture: World Rugby.

Fiji may have won the battle against Ireland at Singapore’s National Stadium on Saturday afternoon but the two-time defending Olympic gold medallists have still missed out on the Cup quarter-finals.

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For the first time on the SVNS Series in 2023/24, Fiji will challenge for a best-possible finish of ninth with a frustrating opening day at the Singaporean venue ultimately defining their campaign.

With relatively new coach Osea Kolinisau at the helm, and a pocket of especially passionate vibrant supporters in the stands, Fiji went winless on day one after falling to the USA and Great Britain.

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But a new day presents new opportunities. The SVNS Series offers the two best third-ranked sides in pool play to progress through to the quarter-finals but Fiji needed to beat Ireland to be a chance.

Fiji were good enough to defeat the fighting Irish 26-19 on a rainy afternoon, but a ninth-minute conversion from Mark Roche proved significant as the men in green secured a losing bonus point.

Ireland, who were second on the overall Series standings before the event in Singapore, progressed to the next round as the third-ranked side in Pool C, while Fiji finished one point behind in last.

“Mostly disappointed. I think we dug ourselves into a hole today,” coach Osea Kolinisau told RugbyPass. “Ireland is a good side.

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“We got the win but yesterday, the ball didn’t go our way. Most of the things we talked about to do in those two games we didn’t execute and that’s the SVNS Series for you.

“When you don’t execute you get punished for it.

“It was a big ask for the boys because we come and play against a good Irish side who showed up to play but the points were not enough today.

“More frustration about yesterday. If we had a difficult outcome yesterday it would be a different story beating Ireland today,” he added.

“I think that just overshadows a performance that we wanted. We didn’t play to our standards yesterday and we’ll go back and talk about what we can do better, especially for the Madrid leg.”

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Coach Kolinisau, who replaced Ben Gollings in the role a couple of months ago, was visibly disappointed after walking off the field. This is a team that expects excellence from themselves.

But sometimes, as Kolinisau had mentioned, “The ball didn’t go our way.” The SVNS Series is ruthless but the Fijians can take some positives from their heartache into the Grand Final in Madrid.

Fiji, who have already qualified as one of the eight teams to compete for the Series’ overall title at Metropolitano Stadium later this month, will have a chance to make amends very soon.

“There’s a lot to learn. When you lose you learn a lot of things about yourselves,” Kolinisau, who won an Olympic gold medal with Fiji at the 2016 Rio Games, explained.

“We were caught out yesterday and that’s something we’ve got to go back and address and try and improve in three-and-a-half weeks’ time before Madrid comes around.

“That’s the beauty of sports and the beauty of this game. You get back to rectify your mistake that you’ve learned from the last tournament.

“There’s a lot of learning and especially on our mental aspect side of things that we’ve got to get right.”

Catch up on all the latest SVNS Series action from the 2023/24 season on RugbyPass TV. SVNS Singapore is live and free to watch, all you need to do is sign up HERE.

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O
Oh no, not him again? 1 hour ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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