On the day of Rugby World Cup Sunday afternoon, the men’s team Fiji won 22 to 15 Australia and climbed to second place in the Group C with a total of six units.
The victory of the Oceania team was unexpected and crucial for the course of the group stage and was a historic event. After the setback on their debut against Wales (32 to 26), Vern Cotter’s team showed a different picture this afternoon.
With strong defense and precision in the penalty shootout, Fiji managed to grab their rivals’ first three points as soon as the trial began and quickly took the lead and asserted their dominance. Simione Kuruvoli’s good performance was crucial to the team being able to leave the first half with a lead of 12:8 at half time.
The first defeat of the World Cup had a significant impact on the Fijians, who on this occasion brought the rest of the determination and attitude they lacked at that point to achieve a good result. So at the start of the second half they took advantage of the blow that unsettled the Australian defense and increased the lead to 18-8.
Facing a defense that seemed impossible to break, Australia tried to win the game but realized with more than 20 minutes to go that the chances were dwindling as time went on.
With 15 minutes left, the Fijian team won a penalty and took a 22-8 lead, and despite the fact that the rivals added 7 to reduce the gap, their tenacity turned the defense into an insurmountable barrier for the historic Success was crucial.
With the win, Fiji picked up its first points and complicated the Group C panorama in the quest to qualify for the next phase, meaning Australia will go all out next Sunday against group winners Wales.
