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Saturday, 5 June 2004
Pivac’s reign begins with one-point win
From Jeremy Duxbury in Nuku'alofa
A strong second-half from Fiji meant new coach Wayne Pivac could open his Test account with a victory over Tonga in Nuku'alofa on Saturday as his new-look team kept their composure as the game wore on and came from behind to win 27-26.
Looking and feeling confident ahead the game, the Fiji boys defence let them down when on the back foot, and they went into half-time trailing 21-10. Beautiful second-half tries from new caps Julian Vulakoro and Sireli Bobo finally got Fiji ahead, and Seremaia Bai's conversions sneaked them home by one point.
Whilst Fiji had started strongly, nerves and inattention meant they dropped the ball far too often when in good positions to score. The opening minutes really should have seen Fiji with some points, and then out of nowhere, the young Tongans produced an end-to-end try to open the scoring through wing Taniela Tulia.
But almost straight away, Fiji hit back. Ifereimi Rawaqa put in a huge charge up the middle; Kele Leawere backed up well and secured possession 10 metres out, then skipper Moses Rauluni flicked a quick pass to Jack Prasad, who off-loaded to Aisea Tuilevu to score his 13th try in 19 Tests.
Fiji enoyed plenty of possession in the early stages, but blew several good scoring opportunities. They gave up one simple kick at goal for a line-out, only for the ensuing drive from Sisa Koyamaibole to finish a metre short.
The Tongans, buoyed from a vocal and enthusiastic crowd at Teufaiva Stadium, played with plenty of conviction and forced two more tries before the break with some help from Fiji's lackadaisical defending, particularly in the forwards.
Winger Solomone Matangi scored the second try for Tonga and lock Lisiate Fa'aoso drove over for the third.
So, at 21-7, the Ikale Tahi were looking good for their first win of the year, having gone down 24-11 to Samoa last week. A Bai penalty goal from under the sticks sent the teams into half-time with Tonga leading 21-10.
Mr Pivac then gave his players a good talking to and reminded them to stick to the game plan. And it seemed to work: Bai clipped over another penalty goal from far out, and minutes later Vulakoro charged through for a try on his debut to put Fiji within one point at 21-20.
Vulakoro's try came from a turnover forced by Aisea Tuilevu, who dummied and weaved before passing to Prasad. The young academy fly-half made another 25 metres, had to hold up and wait for support, but flicked up a beauty to Vulakoro who piled passed two defenders and over the line.
With the wind on their backs, the last half an hour should have been a cruise, but a diabolical hash of a Tongan kick through saw the ball squirt free for fullback Sila Va'enuku to touch down and Tonga were six points ahead again.
As frustrating as this game was to watch for the coaches, Mr Pivac and Willie Ofahengaue, it was a definite winner in entertainment terms.
The game went from end to end and back, both defences standing up well under pressure until Bobo made a decisive run eight minutes from time. Bai made the initial break, passed wide to Bobo with perfect timing, and the Hurricanes wing put his foot on the gas from halfway to burst past his marker and dot down near the posts. Bai's conversion gave Fiji the lead for the first time in the match, 27-26.
Fiji kept up the work rate in the last five minutes, and even missed two more chances at the death, one from Rauluni's forward pass and the last play of the day when Josese Bale was bundled into touch a metre short of the line.
"It’s a win, and an important win," Mr Pivac said. "The boys will have learned a lot from today's game, especially when it comes to option-taking."
"I thought Rawaqa was the pick of the forwards. He was solid in the line-out, and made some good charges too. Doviverata's work rate was excellent, and Kele Leawere also kept going well."
"However, we gifted Tonga three tries, committed too many turnovers and gifted them possession too often. Our forwards weren't really aggressive enough, but we scraped home in the end," he said, adding that Fiji's fitness still needs to improve.
Mr Pivac gave praise to new hooker Joeli Lotawa, who only had one wonky throw and played well around the park. At one point in the second half, Lotawa broke free with Tuilevu, hoofed the ball forward and kept pace with Tonga's replacement second five for 40 metres before the ball bobbled out near the Tongan line.
Pacific Islanders coach John Boe, watching with interest, enjoyed the game thoroughly despite the high number of errors.
"It’s never easy to win at Teufaiva Stadium, Mr Boe said afterwards. "So Fiji did extremely well; that was a great spectacle of rugby today with seven tries."
Saturday, 5 June, 2004
Tonga 26 Fiji 27
Teufaiva Stadium, Tonga
Referee: Lyndon Bray (NZ)
Crowd: 6,000
Half-time: 21-10
TONGA: 15 Sila Va’enuku, 14 Solomone Matangi, 13 Suka Hufanga, 12 Elisi Vunipola (Sefa Vaka 34), 11 Taniela Tulia, 10 Fangatapu ‘Apikotoa (Viliami Sikuti Vunipola 80), 9 Soane Havea, 8 Benhur Kivalu, 7 Chris Hala’ufia, 6 ‘Ofa Misa, 5 ‘Inoke Afeaki, 4 Lisiate Fa’aoso (Seti Filo 65), 3 Taufa’ao Filise, 2 ‘Aleki Lutui (capt), 1 Mosese Moala (Kafalosi Tonga 55)
Tries: Tulia, Matangi, Fa’aoso, Va’enuku; Conversion: ‘Apikotoa (3)
FIJI: 15 Norman Ligairi, 14 Aisea Tuilevu, 13 Seru Rabeni (Julian Vulakoro 37), 12 Seremaia Bai, 11 Sireli Bobo, 10 Jack Prassad, 9 Mosese Rauluni (capt), 8 Sisa Koyamaibole (Seva Rokobaro 65), 7 Kalivati Baleisawani (Netava Tagi 73), 6 Alifereti Doviverata, 5 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 4 Kele Leawere, 3 Bill Cavubati (Apisai Nagi 60), 2 Joeli Lotawa, 1 Jo Bale
Tries: Tuilevu, Vulakoro, Bobo; Conversion: Bai (3); Penalty goals: Bai (2)
Scoring Sequence (Tonga first)
4min TRY TONG Tulia, Conversion ‘Apikotoa; 7-0
8min TRY FIJI Tuilevu, Conversion Bai; 7-7
21min TRY TONGA Matangi, Conversion ‘Apikotoa; 14-7
38min TRY TONGA Fa’aoso, Conversion ‘Apikotoa; 21-7
42min PENALTY FIJIBai; 21-10
Half-time
42min PENALTY FIJI Bai; 21-13
48min TRY FIJI Vulakoro, Conversion Bai; 21-20
52min TRY TONGA Va’enuku; 26-20
72min TRY FIJI Bobo, Conversion Bai; 26-27
Full-time
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