Friday 3 June, 2005
Maoris hold on for narrow victory
By Rusiate Mataika
The FMF Flying Fijians put on a gutsy all-round display against a star-studded New Zealand Maori team on Friday in Suva, and went down by just two points when Nicky Little’s conversion attempt in the last-minute fell a metre short.
The final scoreline of 29-27 in the Maoris’ favour showed how much Fiji have improved of late given that many had expected a big hiding from Matt Te Pou’s visitors, who face the British Lions next week.
Indeed, Wayne Pivac’s men led for most of the second half and could well have sealed the match had they taken a couple of clear chances, or had the Maori defence not been so resolute.
The Fiji backline displayed plenty of pace while the forwards matched the Kiwis in every facet of the game, winning a lot of turnovers and recycling well.
The 17,000-strong crowd were entertained by a fierce competition that saw the Fijian defence tested to the limit. And in return, the exuberant fans backed their team with tremendous vocal support to create an atmosphere not witnessed here for several years.
Left wing Sireli Bobo scored Fiji’s opening and closing tries in the 30th and 80th minute, while Vilimoni Delasau on the other wing made some superb breaks, including two that set up tries for Sisa Koyamaibole and Seremaia Bai.
Outside centre Bill Satala was back to his devastating best, stepping through the line and feeding his wings well; while his trademark tackles made it hard for the New Zealand offence to get going. Bai also worked hard throughout, throwing himself about and making some important cover tackles.
Fly-half Nicky Little, who was making his first appearance for Fiji since the 2003 World Cup, provided good distribution and paired up well with skipper Moses Rauluni, though the distance in his place-kicking appeared to fall away and his defence was breached at key times.
The Kiwis opened the score with a penalty goal to fly-half David Hill in the 10th minute which was negated by one from Little in the 15th minute.
Fiji’s first run in the open came when debutant flanker Aca Ratuva stole an overthrown line-out ball just outside his own 22, raced 50 metres upfield and chipped ahead. Ifereimi Rawaqa, following up well, forced Shannon Paku to carry over his own line. From the five-metre scrum, Satala finished off a move by stepping through the Kiwis’ line and dotting down under the posts, only for Australian referee George Ayoub to ping Bai for shepherding.
From the ensuing turnover, Hill ran the ball almost the length of the field for No.8 Angus McDonald to finish off for the first try of the game.
But Fiji replied almost immediately when prop Jo Bale was put into the gap by Rauluni and broke the line. Impressive young lock Akuila Matanibukaca took it another 20 metres and popped up the last pass for Bobo to score.
New Zealand hit back five minutes later with some quick handling from the halfway line. Right wing Hayden Pedersen latched onto a Rua Tipoki grubber to score. Hill converted to take his side to a 17-8 lead.
With half-time approaching, good hands in the Fiji backs found Delasau with room to stretch his legs on the right wing. The Canterbury star kicked over the top of his marker, beat the cover defence to the ball just metres from the line but was unable to control the ball fully and lost it forward.
But a short-arm penalty at the scrum gave Fiji the ball back, and Koyamaibole peeled away down the short side past Maori captain Jono Gibbes for his third try in 26 Tests to bring Fiji back into the game.
Little converted and Fiji went into half-time trailing 15-17.
Early in the second half, Delasau produced an amazing run that took play up the Maori 22. And although he missed Bobo haring up on his right, the pressure resulted in a simple try for Bai to give Fiji the lead for the first time, 22-17.
In this to-and-fro encounter, Fiji held on for some 20 minutes and looked to be heading for their first win over the Maoris since 1957, but two tries in quick succession from Paku and Scott Linklater put the Maoris in control again at 29-22.
To their immense credit, Fiji didn’t back down, and hammered the Maori line with wave upon wave of attacks looking to level the scores. Matanibukaca and 19-year-old replacement No.8 Jone Qovu went close but were stopped a metre or two short. In the last minute, Bobo linked up with Delasau down the short side to score in the corner, but Little’s conversion attempt didn’t quite have the legs, and the Maoris held on.
“This is just week one of a nine-month season,” Pivac said afterwards, clearly disappointed that Fiji didn’t finish victors but satisfied overall with a brave performance against a very experienced Maori team.
Both teams depart Fiji on Saturday to prepare for the big clashed next weekend as Fiji take on the All Blacks in Albany and the Maoris host the British Lions in Hamilton.
3 June 2005
Fiji 27 NZ Maoris 29
Post Fiji Stadium, Suva
Half-time: 15-17
Referee: George Ayoub (Australia)
Crowd: 17,000
FIJI: 15 Norman Ligairi, 14 Vilimoni Delasau, 13 Viliame Satala, 12 Seremaia Bai (Epeli Ruivadra 70), 11 Sireli Bobo, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Mosese Rauluni (capt) (Jacob Rauluni 60), 8 Sisa Koyamaible (Jone Qovu 56), 7 Aca Ratuva (Sam Tabua 56), 6 Ifereimi Rawaqa (Seva Rokobaro 52), 5 Isoa Domolailai (Seva Rokobaro 3-10), 4 Akuila Matanibukaca, 3 Bill Cavubati, 2 Bill Gadolo (Sunia Koto 62), 1 Jo Bale.
Not used: Jone Railomo
Coach: Wayne Pivac
Tries: Bobo (2), Koyamaibole, Bai; Conversions: Little (2); Penalty goal: Little.
NZ MAORIS: 15 Shannon Paku, 14 Hayden Pedersen, 13 Rua Tipoki, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Neil Brew, 10 David Hill, 9 Piri Weepu (Craig McGrath 62), 8 Angus McDonald (Thomas Waldrom 62), 7 Marty Holah, 6 Jono Gibbes (capt) (Daniel Braid 52), 5 Paul Tito, 4 Ross Filipo, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Scott Linklater, 1 Deacon Manu.
Not used: Corey Flynn, Greg Feek, Riki Flutey, Tamati Ellison
Coach: Matt Te Pou
Tries: McDonald, Pedersen, Paku, Linklater; Conversions: Hill (3); Penalty goal: Hill.
Scoring sequence (Fiji’s score shown first):
10min – PEN GOAL MAORIS, Hill – 0-3
15min – PEN GOAL FIJI, Little – 3-3
29min – TRY MAORIS, McDonald; conversion Hill – 3-10
30min – TRY FIJI, Bobo – 8-10
34min – TRY MAORIS, Pedersen; conversion Hill – 8-17
40min – TRY FIJI, Koyamaibole; conversion Little – 15-17
Half-time
42min – TRY FIJI, Bai; conversion Little – 22-17
61min – TRY MAORIS, Paku – 22-22
73min – TRY MAORIS, Linklater; conversion Hill – 22-29
80min – TRY FIJI, Bobo – 27-29
Full-time
Kicking success:
Fiji – Little 3/5
Maoris – Hill 4/7
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