They have to defeat Australia in Saint-Etienne today to remain in contention for a place in the last eight and after all the social media chatter in the week about how officiating decisions went against the islanders against Wales, Fiji want to take the referee and his assistants out of the picture.
“If we sharpen up on our completion when we enter the 22 and score a couple of the tries we failed to against Wales, the referee does not become an issue,” said Fiji forwards coach Brad Harris.
“We have focused on tidying up our performance, making sure that we are disciplined when we do not have the ball, get our tackle height right and make good decisions at the offensive breakdown. If we paint the right pictures, we can apply pressure and come out on top.”
The referee is, ironically, Welsh. Andrew Brace was born in Cardiff, but moved to Ireland where he worked as a community officer for Munster. He is not known for having a high tolerance threshold, but what today needs is even-handedness.
“The nature of the game is that referees make their calls,” said Fiji’s defence coach, Daryl Gibson. “We cannot control that. What we can do is become more clinical every time we approach the tryline.
Bu hikaye The Rugby Paper dergisinin September 17, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Rugby Paper dergisinin September 17, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Harrow keep their nerve for double joy
HARROW saw off QEGS Wakefield to defend their Continental Tyres National School Cup title in emphatic fashion at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
Wales all washed up with nowhere to go...
Every living English Grand Slam captain, from Sir Bill Beaumont to Dylan Hartley via Will Carling and Martin Johnson, shares another common denominator. They all know what it’s like to be blown away in the cyclonic fury of Cardiff on big-match day.
Lynn's hoping for fantastic farewell
GLOUCESTER-Hartpury have the chance to send boss Sean Lynn off with a perfect farewell as they chase an unprecedented hat-trick of consecutive titles.
Red Roses want to make it seven in a row - Mitchell
ENGLAND head coach John Mitchell has had to prepare for his title defence without players in the PWR final.
Lions' support team keeps on growing
The 1974 Lions took off from Heathrow with a management team of two. No specialist coaches, no analysts, no spin doctors, no physios, not even a bucket-and-sponge man.
Chiefs are too good for Blues in thriller
In a repeat of last season’s final, the Chiefs beat the Blues in a thriller to go top and continue the champions’ nightmare title defence.
Battling Italy make it tough for Ireland
ITALY, despite a succession of serious injuries and self-inflicted disciplinary problems, pushed Ireland all the way at the Olympic Stadium in a game that summed up both their respective campaigns.
Nice are planning a quick reversal
You may not have heard of Stade Marcel Volot – the one-stand 3,000-capacity home of ProD2 basement side Nice, which sits next to the Var river up the road from the rather larger and better-known Allianz Riviera home of the city’s Ligue 1 football team.
France in seventh heaven
FRANCE overcame a spirited Scotland display in a breathless finale in Paris to secure a record-equalling seventh Six Nations title – drawing level with England – and their first since 2022.
Time to talk about the 1995 you-know-what
It’s ODD how some Grand Slams get lost in the mists of time, seemingly never to be mentioned again. Take England in 1995. Thirty years ago this weekend Will Carling’s team were closing out their third Slam in five years with a 24-12 victory over Scotland at Twickenham with Rob Andrew kicking seven penalties and a dropped goal for the men in white.
