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11 October, 2003
France hand indisciplined Fiji a hiding
From Jeremy Duxbury in Australia
Fiji showed both sides of their rugby character Saturday as they fell 61-18 to a polished French team at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane in the Pool B opener of the Rugby World Cup.
Two great opportunist tries from Fiji lock Api Naevo and wing Rupeni Caucau were overshadowed by indiscipline at the breakdown that handed a bundle of points to the boot of French fly-half Frédéric Michalak, who finished with six penalty goals and four conversions for 26 points.
Caucau’s beautiful try in the 43rd minute brought the score to 24-18, and had Fiji thought about giving him the ball more often, we might have had a different game on our hands. But the ball was tediously slow reaching Seru Rabeni at inside centre and the French backs came up so quickly that he and Aisea Tuilevu rarely had a chance to weave their magic.
Michalak extended France’s lead to 30-18 with two more penalty goals, and then Bernarde Laporte’s team ran riot with five tries in the last 25 minutes.
With the score at 37-18 in the 59th minute, Fiji coach Mac McCallion brought on Waisale Serevi to inject some life into the backline, but instead of filling in at fly-half, Serevi was wasted at fullback where he replaced Norman Ligairi.
Ligairi made a hash of one ball kicked behind him, but otherwise looked fine and was dangerous going forward. Indeed, it was his inventive run and double cut-out pass on his own 22 that set up Caucau for his try from 75 metres out.
Caucau went around his opposite number Aurelian Rougerie with ridiculous ease, then stepped fullback Nicolas Brusque before touching down under the posts to announce his arrival at the World Cup.
But the match turned sour for Caucau in the 64th minute when he stupidly got involved in a scuffle. His yellow card will almost certainly be upgraded to red when the citing commissioner gets his hands on the video, and he can expect a suspension for the forearm smash on Olivier Magne, who was also sin-binned.
Earlier, Naevo’s try in the 17th minute had given Fiji an 8-6 lead as Fiji held their own in the opening half hour. Caucau pressured Rougerie, whose kick skewed across the field. Tuilevu scooped up the loose ball and flicked a back-hand pass to Naevo, who threw a dummy to Kiti Salawa before diving over the line.
While Fiji now play the United States and Japan, a major change in tactical play will be required if they are to give Scotland a decent match on 1 November.
11 October, 2003
France 61 Fiji 18
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Half-time: 24-8
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges: Alan Lewis (Ireland), Steve Walsh (NZ)
Match official 4: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Match official 5: Greg Hinton (Australia)
TV match official: Donal Courtney (Ireland)
Crowd: 46,795
FRANCE: 15 Nicolas Brusque, 14 Aurelien Rougerie (Pepito Elhorga 56), 13 Yannick Jauzion (Gerald Merceron 77), 12 Tony Marsh, 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 Frédéric Michalak (Damien Traille 77), 9 Fabien Galthié (capt), 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Olivier Magne (yellow card 64-73) (Christian Labit 75), 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Jerome Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous (Olivier Brouzet 70), 3 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 1 Jean-Jacques Crenca.
Coach: Bernarde Laporte
Tries: Jauzion (3), Dominici (2), Harinordoquy, Ibanez; Conversions: Michalak (4); Penalty goals: Michalak (6)
FIJI: 15 Norman Ligairi (Waisale Serevi 59), 14 Vilimoni Delasau (Marika Vunibaka 66), 13 Aisea Tuilevu, 12 Seru Rabeni, 11 Rupeni Caucau (yellow card 64-73), 10 Nicky Little, 9 Moses Rauluni (Sami Rabaka 78), 8 Alifereti Doviverata (capt), 7 Kitione Salawa (Vula Maimuri 57), 6 Sisa Koyamaibole, 5 Api Naevo (Kele Leawere 69), 4 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 3 Joeli Veitayaki (Nacanieli Seru 66), 2 Greg Smith, 1 Richard Nyholt.
Not used: Bill Gadolo
Coach: Mac McCallion
Tries: Naevo, Caucau; Conversion: Little; Penalty goals: Little (2)
Scoring sequence (France first)
5min – PEN FIJ, Little – 0-3
7min – PEN FRA, Michalak – 3-3
11min – PEN FRA, Michalak – 6-3
17min – TRY FIJ, Naevo – 6-8
26min – PEN FRA, Michalak – 9-8
31min – PEN FRA, Michalak – 12-8
33min – TRY FRA, Dominici – 17-8
36min – TRY FRA, Harinordoquy, conv Michalak – 24-8
Half-time
42min – PEN FIJ, Little – 24-11
43min – TRY FIJ, Caucau, con Little – 24-18
46min – PEN FRA, Michalak – 27-18
51min – PEN FRA, Michalak – 30-18
56min – TRY FRA, Jauzion, con Michalak – 37-18
66min – TRY FRA, Jauzion, con Michalak – 44-18
72min – TRY FRA, Jauzion, con Michalak – 51-18
78min – TRY FRA, Ibanez – 56-18
80min – TRY FRA, Dominici – 61-18
Full-time
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RUGBY WORLD CUP 2003