Fijiana XVs captain Sereima Leweniqila hailed the positive attitude her teammates displayed particularly when England started piling on the scores in the second half of their opening RWC 2021 game over the weekend.
Scores ended 84-19 in England’s favour who stuttered in the first half, taken aback by the Fijiana’s rapid pace of play that was reflected in the 24-14 scoreline at half-time. However, into the second half, England showed their experience, running in 10 more tries.
In such situations, Leweniqila said she would expect the players to concede defeat, but it was the contrary.
“I kept hearing them saying, ‘keep going, keep fighting, it’s not over’.”
Team coach Senirusi Seruvakula expressed the same sentiments, praising the players for their effort as well as noting the shortfalls in their first RWC outing.
“We still managed to hold them in the first half but we just lose focus on the second half because playing against a fully professional side against England, we need to be consistent and also don’t give a lot of errors. The more we give errors the more they gonna punch it and we have to be playing… smart.”
The team is expected to return to training today, after having spent yesterday reviewing their game against England.
Fiji play South Africa next, kicking off this Sunday at Waitakere Stadium in Auckland at 4.45 pm (Fiji Time). South Africa lost to France 5-40 in their opening game.
Looking ahead, Leweniqila is hopeful of continued support for the team, saying “it’s the first time, it will get better.”
The Fijiana wrap up their Pool C proceedings against the French at 6.15 pm on Saturday 22 October at the Northland Events Centre in Whangarei.
Photo: RWC2021
