Fiji looking forward rather than at Wallabies triumph
Melissa Woods |
While the Wallabies have tried to forget their Rugby World Cup horror show, Fiji also aren’t dwelling on one of their greatest triumphs.
In their last meeting in 2023, the Fijians broke a 69-year drought by beating Australia 22-15 in France to effectively send them packing from the tournament.
Ahead of Sunday’s Test in Newcastle, Wallabies flanker Fraser McReight admitted watching vision this week was the first time he’d revisited the game.
Fiji coach Mick Byrne, a former Wallabies, All Blacks and Scotland assistant, said they also weren’t fixated on that match given the change in Australia’s coach and player personnel.
Joe Schmidt has replaced Eddie Jones, while it’s likely only eight or nine Wallabies players from the Saint Etienne clash – with Ben Donaldson and Nic White the only possible backs – will feature in the match-day 23 this week.
Byrne, who has also taken over as coach from Simon Raiwalui, has 14 players backing up as he selects a line-up from 13 Drua players, 10 from the Top 14 in France and five from the England premiership when teams are named on Friday.
“It’s a different coaching group, they’re playing a different brand of rugby to what was played back then,” Byrne said of the Wallabies.
“We’ve been looking at them at their last time out in November, and I think that, knowing the team that the coaching team have put together, they’re going very well.
“I’m not sure they’ll have their eye on two years ago, so I think they’ll have their eye firmly planted on Sunday, and we’ve got the same, it’s the game in front of us, that’s the most important one.”
The Pacific Islanders also claimed the scalp of Wales in Cardiff last November and Bill Mata, who has joined their camp in Newcastle from the Bristol Bears, said such results had given the players belief.
“Totally, we’ve done it once, so surely we can do it again and to get a win over Australia in Australia, that would be massive for the whole team,” said Mata, who started at No.8 in their World Cup clash.
With their first Test against the British and Irish Lions looming in Brisbane on July 19, the Wallabies are juggling two different preparations and timelines but Byrne believed master tactician Schmidt will have his team primed.
“I think they’ll be well-versed in their game as they’ve had camps and they’ve been together for two weeks so they’ll know the sort of rugby they want to play.
“They have the same coaching group from last year and they may have tweaked a few things but I expect that they’ll be pretty well versed in what they need to do, and they’ll be able to come out on Sunday and present themselves at their best.”
The match will be attended by Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and his Fijian counterpart Sitiveni Rabuka, and Byrne said he would like the Vuvale Bowl to be an annual Test fixture.
Fiji are hosting Scotland in Suva following the Wallabies Test.
“An annual home and away series would be awesome – get Australia out of their comfort zone and come and play us in in Suva or in Fiji somewhere, that would be awesome,” Byrne said.
AAP
