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 VODAFONE FIJI 15s
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Saturday 6 November, 2004
Fiji flop as NZ Divisional kick to victory
By Vela Naucukidi
The New Zealand Divisional XV opened their tour of Fiji on a high by defeating Vodafone Fiji 34-25 in Suva to hand Wayne Pivac his first loss as Fiji coach. Fiji outscored their Kiwi opponents four tries to three but committed far too many errors which allowed Tim Manawatu to kick four penalty goals as part of his 19-point haul.
Fiji began with promise, making some good breaks but were unable to convert their early dominance into enough points.
Debutant centre Kameli Ratuvou, one of four uncapped players in the starting 15, charged down a kick in the seventh minute and pounced on the loose ball for Fiji’s opening try.
Two minutes later, inside centre Julian Vulakoro powered through the midfield from a line-out move in Fiji’s half. The former Navosa skipper shook off two tackle attempts, made 40 metres with the fullback to beat and Ratuvou on his outside, but opted to kick ahead which turned over possession.
This was one of three occasions in the first half when a kick was the wrong thing to do when Fiji was moving forward – Aisea Tuilevu and Neumi Nanku being the other culprits.
For Mr Pivac, it became a frustrating and disappointing day.
"I’m very unhappy with the way the boys played," he said. "We’re a little embarrassed by our performance. The Fiji public came here expecting to see a great game, and we let them down."
Mr Pivac pointed to the lack of urgency in Fiji’s play, and the high number of unnecessary turnovers and penalties.
"Our forwards didn’t play with the intensity needed at this level, and the amount of times we dropped the ball when not under pressure was very disturbing."
Fiji blew several good opportunities to score. Twice in the first half, Nanuku failed to latch onto the final pass that would have seen him score, and a needless turnover on the New Zealand try-line in the 15th minute resulted in a runaway try at the other end to centre Niva Ta’auso.
"That was a 14-point try," Mr Pivac explained.
Pivac had nine uncapped players in the 22 as he uses this series to give the promising local players a chance to step up a level. They had a mixed day.
"Had we been playing a Tier I side today, they would have put 50 or 60 points on us."
Two more tries to the visitors, who made the most of their chances, pushed the score out to 19-5 before Tuilevu put Sireli Bobo in the clear for the first of his two tries and take the half-time score to 19-12 in the Kiwis’ favour.
"We had the best man of the field out there," Mr Pivac said, referring to Bobo, "but we only gave him the ball three times. I think that says a lot about the way we played."
"We talked about it at half-time, about the indiscretions at the breakdown, the lack of intensity; but nothing changed after the break."
Midway through the second half, after Manawatu had picked up a further six boots through penalties, Bobo scored a gem of a try by blistering more than 80 metres down the touchline as his opponents flailed in his wake.
Skipper Kele Leawere forced a turnover from a maul, replacement half Saiasi Fuli fed Vulakoro, who threw a long pass to Bobo waiting on the wing still inside his own 22. Bobo’s acceleration and shear speed saw him eat up the ground as wing Manawatu, Ta’auso and fullback Robbie Malneek tried but failed to get near him.
So, back to a six-point ballgame it was, and time for Fiji to give away some more penalties in their own 22.
Manawatu clipped over another three-pointer before wing Isoa Neivua, tipped to become the next Rupeni Caucau, scored a try just six minutes after coming onto the field.
Tuilevu was the provider once more. Sisa Koyamaibole, who excelled as a battering ram throughout the day, collected a clearance kick on halfway and punched a big hole in the Kiwi line. Fuli recycled quickly to Tuilevu who danced his way through the defence before holding the ball out in one hand for Neivua to grab and power past the last man to the try-line.
But again, as soon as Fiji had scored a five-pointer, the Divisional XV came back with a penalty goal for a needless infringement. And after Vulakoro picked up three points for Fiji as well, Manawatu added a dropped goal to round off the scoring and complete a miserable day for Fiji.
Of those that performed well, Nadroga's Dale Mataluvu injected the urgency as a loose forward that the coach had wanted; and Ifereimi Rawaqa had another great day in the line-outs which prevented the towering Isao Domolailai from getting a run.
The New Zealanders’ coach Glen Moore called it "an interesting game", adding that it next week’s return fixture ought to be more structured.
"Fiji made some mistakes today, but I’m sure they will get together and improve for the next match, so we will have to step up also," Mr Moore said.
"We have only 24 players here, and our aim is to win all three games, so we’ll need to improve on our defence. Like for Bobo’s second try, he’s got the gas, and once he gets the ball, you can’t stop him."
He said his forwards did well in the set pieces.
"We applied pressure on Fiji in the set pieces and were on the front foot most of the time. There was also a lot of turn-overs from Fiji."
The humid conditions in the capital did not really affect the visitors because they came well prepared.
"We spent four days in Auckland to acclimatise our players. We trained there without t-shirts in 22 degrees."
Coach Pivac said Fiji were fortunate to be able to have another crack at them next week in Lautoka.
"We’ve got six days in which to correct our mistakes."
Before that, the Divisional XV will play the Air Pacific Fiji ‘A’ team at Ratu Cakobau Park on Wednesday.
Saturday 6 November, 2004
Fiji 25 NZ Divisional 34
Post Fiji Stadium, Suva
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (NZ)
Half-time: 12-19
Crowd: 6,000
FIJI: 15 Neumi Nanuku (Jo Tora 68), 14 Aisea Tuilevu, 13 Kameli Ratuvou (Isoa Neivua 59), 12 Julian Vulakoro, 11 Sireli Bobo, 10 Jack Prasad, 9 Aporosa Vata (Saiasi Fuli 40), 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 Mosese Volavola, 6 Seva Rokobaro (Dale Mataluvu 54), 5 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 4 Kele Leawere (capt), 3 Apisai Nagi, 2 Joeli Lotawa (Sunia Koto 59), 1 Josese Bale (Ravuamo Samo 64)
Coach: Wayne Pivac
Tries: Bobo (2), Ratuvou, Neivua; Conversion: Vulakoro; Penalty goal: Vulakoro
NZ DIVISIONAL XV: 15 Robbie Malneek, 14 Tim Manawatu, 13 Niva Ta’auso (Aaron Bancroft 70), 12 Davis Norman, 11 Iliesa Durrant,10 Eddie Hekenui, 9 Charlie Beethem (Lee Peina 68), 8 Kahu Marfell, 7 Mark Bright (Niu Bartlet 70), 6 Mike Johnson (capt), 5 Rob Evans (Hayden Triggs 50), 4 Campbell MacKenzie, 3 Gavin Briggs (Mike Thompson 68), 2 Mark Stewart (Derek Leefe 48), 1 Clint Newland
Coach: Glen Moore
Tries: Ta’auso (2), Stewart; Conversions: Manawatu (2); Penalty goals: Manawatu (4); Dropped goal: Manawatu
Scoring sequence (Fiji score first)
7min TRY FIJI Ratuvou – 5-0
15min TRY NZ DIV, Ta’auso; Conversion Manawatu – 5-7
25min TRY NZ DIV, Stewart – 5-12
37min TRY NZ DIV, Ta’auso; Conversion Manawatu – 5-19
40min TRY FIJI, Bobo; Conversion Vulakoro – 12-19
Half-time
41min PENALTY GOAL NZ DIV, Manawatu – 12-22
46min PENALTY GOAL NZ DIV, Manawatu – 12-25
58min TRY FIJI, Bobo – 17-25
63min PENALTY GOAL NZ DIV, Manawatu – 17-28
65min TRY FIJI, Neivua – 22-28
67min PENALTY GOAL NZ DIV, Manawatu – 22-31
70min PENALTY GOAL FIJI, Vulakoro – 25-31
71min DROPPED GOAL NZ DIV, Manawatu – 25-34
Full-time
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