On June 26, 1954, the Fiji rugby team narrowly defeated Australia 16-18 in Sydney. It was the fourth time that the two Oceanic countries played each other and the record was two wins each. Since then the record has been completely unbalanced: 17 wins for the Wallabies, the last 15 in a row, and one draw (in 1961). On the way, shots like 49-0, 66-20, 49-3… Until today. The Flying Fijians clearly broke the losing streak against the Wallabies with one of the most important victories in their history: 15-22 on the second day of the World Cup in France to blow up Group C.
The always fun team from Fiji has been sending out warnings lately. They beat England a month ago in preparation for the World Cup and on their debut in this edition they had the victory in their hands against Wales, who escaped with their lives in the last game. That defeat seemed to have ended their chances of reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since 2007, but this Sunday they revived them in the best possible way, with a victory that will be celebrated on islands with fewer than a million inhabitants. Coached by Simon Raiwalui, the team was agile in attack, solid in defense and made excellent use of Australia’s sometimes childish mistakes that made its future in the tournament difficult.
In the early stages, the Flying Fijians survived thanks to the impeccable footing of Simione Kuruvoli, who scored a perfect 4/4 on penalties in the first half. Fiji punished Australia’s lack of discipline harshly in both defense and attack, and a good handful of Wallabies offenses were averted through retention and other sanctions. Mark Nawaqanitawase’s try was the only joy for the two-time world champions in the first 40 minutes (they trailed 8-12 at half-time). As soon as they returned from the dressing room, Fiji struck with a try from Josua Tuisova, who took advantage of an Australian blunder on an up and under, and with the conversion of a Kuruvoli, leaving the score at 5/5 before leaving the game because of injury.
The Wallabies remained disoriented, had no fixed direction of attack and were kicking. Eddie Jones couldn’t find the cracks in his rival. The income for Fiji could have been higher, but the existing inaccuracies and its major flaw were the only things that prevented this. The suffering of the islands’ inhabitants to defend their advantage was not as excruciating as expected, and Australia was responsible for repeatedly shooting itself in the foot. Suli Vunivalu’s try with just over 10 minutes left spiced things up but Fiji continued to be a brick wall and managed to claim a historic victory. The consolation for Australia was receiving the two defensive bonus points, and it was miraculous as Frank Lomani missed a penalty as time expired.
With this unexpected but more than deserved result, Group C of the World Cup was turned on its head. Wales lead with 10 points and two wins, followed by Fiji with 6 (against Leek they achieved the defensive bonus), as did Australia. If the Flying Fijians live up to predictions and beat Georgia and Portugal, they would progress to the quarter-finals by a foot and a half. Next Sunday’s clash between Wales and Australia is of utmost importance: the Wallabies need to beat the league leaders and also secure the attacking bonus to surpass them in the table. The surprise of Fiji now opens up a wide range of possibilities in the group, especially when taking bonuses into account. But no one can take away this historic triumph from Fijians who dream big.
