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15 October, 2003
Fiji edge USA in cliff-hanger
From Jeremy Duxbury at RWC 2003
In the closest match of the Rugby World Cup since 1995, Fiji edged a well-organised United States team 19-18 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane to keep alive their slim hopes of making the quarter-finals.
But this wasn’t the match Fiji fans had wanted to see – the Americans outscored Fiji two tries to one and would have snatched a dramatic victory had Mike Hercus’s injury-time conversion attempt not drifted wide of the posts.
Nicky Little kicked four penalty goals and converted Api Naevo’s second-half try for a perfect five from five on the night, but he also kicked away too much possession and failed to find touch on several occasions.
And although Fiji struggled to find any backline rhythm, coach Mac McCallion resisted injecting some creativity into the play and left Waisale Serevi sitting on the bench. It sounds like a broken record, admittedly, but when Serevi has proven himself time and again as a superb impact player, why not use him?
Possibly the worst decision of the tournament so far, however, came six minutes from full-time when Fiji had a lead of six points and passed up a straight-forward shot at goal that would have put them out of reach of the Eagles. Instead, Fiji kicked for touch, made a mess of the line-out, turned over possession and so nearly lost the match.
Overall, Fiji lost six of their own line-outs from hooker Greg Smith in a scrappy display that was punctuated, however, by flashes of individual brilliance.
Left wing Vilimoni Delasau kept threatening to score with some dazzling end-to-end efforts, but he kept running into a wall of defenders and was either unable to offload effectively or didn’t get enough support.
Naca Seru, starting at tightead prop, added a little fire to the front row and had his share of pick and drives, while Naevo showed his experience and power before having to limp off in the final quarter.
"A win’s a win," Mr McCallion said, "and we’ll take this one."
The former Maori skipper said he had aged 10 years watching his team scrape home by one point.
"I’m sure the fans like it, but it’s no good for the blood pressure of the coach," he said. "We were lucky to win. Hopefully, they (USA) will get stuck into the Scottish team for us and mix it up for them."
Mr McCallion said his players did not stick to the game plan and tried to take on the USA physically rather than moving the ball wide.
He also paid tribute to the Eagles, particularly their line-out men, who he described as "outstanding athletes."
Eagles’ coach Tom Billups said: "Tactically, we were very sound for a large proportion of the match, but at the highest level the edge is very thin and we came up a bit short today."
"It was a bloody close game. We would have gladly taken a win, but I think our precision and our execution at some critical times in the match was not what we wanted it to be."
Mr Billups added that they are "going to throw the kitchen sink at every one of our opponents, and honour the game of rugby."
The USA led 6-3 at half-time after an exchange of penalties between Little and Hercus.
Fiji began the second half by dominating possession, but Smith lost the ball forward in the tackle in the 44th minute and the Eagles kicked over the top and took advantage of a lucky bounce that fooled Alfie Uluinayau and allowed Riaan van Zyl to touch down for the first try.
Little hit back with a penalty, then a counter-attack from Seru Rabeni from his own 22 led to Delasau and then Marika Vunibaka charging forward. Vunibaka got dragged to the grass 10 metres short, Smith followed up well and flicked the ball up for Naevo, who touched down between the posts for his second try of this World Cup.
On the hour, Little then put Fiji into the lead for the first time in the game then added another three-pointer in the 66th minute to make it 19-13.
After the crazy decision to kick for touch with a few minutes to play, Fiji were forced to defend madly for the last few phases of play. The USA pushed forward well, found an overlap and veteran flanker Kort Schubert dived over in the corner.
So, with the last kick of the match, Hercus had the chance to break the Eagles’ record run of World Cup defeats, but pushed his kick wide to the right and Fiji were off the hook.
Fiji now travel to Townsville where they play Japan next Thursday before heading south to Sydney for the deciding fixture against Scotland on 1 November.
Thus far, though they have won one and lost one at this World Cup, Fiji have played far below their potential, and they really need to sort out their game plan if they are to have any hope of proceeding through the group.
15 October, 2003
Fiji 19 United States 18
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Referee: Joel Jutge (Fra)
Touch judges: Andrew Cole (Aus), Nigel Whitehouse (Eng)
Match official 4: Chris White (Eng)
Match official 5: Paul Marks
TV match official: Mark Lawrence (RSA)
FIJI: 15 Alfred Uluinayau, 14 Marika Vunibaka, 13 Aisea Tuilevu, 12 Seru Rabeni, 11 Vilimoni Delasau, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Moses Rauluni, 8 Alifereti Doviverata (capt), 7 Koli Sewabu, 6 Alivereti Mocelutu (Sisa Koyamaibole 56), 5 Api Naevo (Vula Maimuri 67), 4 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 3 Nacanieli Seru (Richard Nyholt 56), 2 Greg Smith, 1 Joeli Veitayaki
Not used: Bill Gadolo, Waisale Serevi, Epeli Ruivadra, Norman Ligairi
Coach: Mac McCallion
Try: Naevo; Conversion: Little; Penalty goals: Little (4)
USA: 15 Paul Emerick (John Buchholz 71), 14 David Fee (John Buchholz 56-66), 13 Philip Eloff (Kain Cross 73-77), 12 Kain Cross (Salesi Sika 72), 11 Riaan van Zyl, 10 Mike Hercus, 9 Kevin Dalzell, 8 Dan Lyle, 7 Dave Hodges (capt), 6 Kort Schubert, 5 Luke Gross, 4 Alec Parker, 3 Daniel Dorsey, 2 Kirk Khasigian, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Not used: Matthew Wyatt, John Tarpoff, Gerhard Klerck, Jurie Gouws, Kimball Kjar
Coach: Tom Billups
Tries: van Zyl, Schubert; Conversion: Hercus; Penalty goals: Hercus (2)
Scoring sequence (Fiji first)
7min – PEN USA, Hercus – 0-3
25miin – PEN USA, Hercus – 0-6
33min – PEN FIJ, Little – 3-6
Half-time
44min – TRY USA, van Zyl, con Hercus – 3-13
50min – PEN FIJ, Little – 6-13
55min – TRY FIJ, Naevo, con Little – 13-13
58min – PEN FIJ, Little – 16-13
66min – PEN FIJ, Little – 19-13
80+min – TRY USA, Schubert – 19-18
Full-time
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RUGBY WORLD CUP 2003