Fiji laid foundation for their next generation in France

Fiji’s World Cup campaign started and ended with defeats in exhilarating contests against tier one nations, and while they have a wound that will take time to heal, coach Simon Raiwalui is confident there is more to come from the Pacific islanders.

Sunday's 30-24 quarterfinal defeat to England in Marseille was Fiji’s third loss in five games at the tournament in France, and yet there is a genuine belief this team will kick on ahead of the next World Cup in Australia in 2027.

“For 15 weeks these boys have worked hard and we will celebrate that,” Raiwalui said. “We’re hurting now but I couldn’t be prouder of this group in terms of what they’ve put in.

“They’ve built something for the next generation of Fijian rugby players. They’ve laid a foundation.”

Fiji’s opening 32-26 loss to Wales showed glimpses of their potential, but also the chaotic nature of their game at times that lacks structure and devolves into a free-spirited rugby Sevens style that the country is so famous for.

A superb 22-15 win over Australia and gutsy 17-12 victory against Georgia put them on course for the knockout stages, and they got the point they needed to advance in a surprise 24-23 loss to Portugal.

Against England they rallied from 14 points down to draw level going into the final 10 minutes, but lacked the street-smarts to gain victory.

“What a fantastic team they are,” England coach Steve Borthwick said. “They have had a brilliant World Cup. A team jam packed full of world class players.

“Full of pace and the way they scored those back-to-back tries was in a way not too many teams in the world can.”

Their progress has been obvious, helped by the entry of Fijian Drua into Super Rugby, with 17 of their 33-man squad in France coming from that team.

Their danger with ball in hand is ever-present, but what they will want to tidy up in the coming years is the set-piece and breakdown, where they struggled against top-tier opposition.

“We’re hurting at the moment and it will hurt for a long time because it was something we had built and we thought we could go further. The belief in the team has always been there. I’m bursting with pride,” Raiwalui said.

“The pride’s never gone away, it’s there from the beginning until the day I die. These boys are family. Pride doesn’t disappear.” 

Raiwalui thought his team had laid the foundation for a bright future for the island nation in the 15-man game.

“They've worked so hard since week one, 15 weeks now, and they've showed they belong on the world stage. The whole group players and staff. It's a bit of an emotional moment.

“This is a different Fiji team and I think it's the start of something special. We made a few mistakes today, we didn't take our chances and we paid for it but, as I said, I couldn't be prouder.”

Sunday's match had echoes of Fiji's last World Cup quarterfinal in 2007 when they fought back to level the match at 20-20 only to go down 37-20 to eventual champions South Africa.

The success of that campaign was not built upon but Raiwalui, who until he took over as coach was general manager at the Fijian Rugby Union, thought this time would be different.

“When I was general manager, the idea was to make sure that pathways were geared towards long term success. Our pathways are in a good place.

“The second thing was we needed to be more consistent in preparation, and I think what we've shown this year is that we've grown in that area. I think that's only going to grow as we go forward to the 2027 and 2031 World Cups.”

It has been a tough few weeks off the pitch for the Fijians with centre Josua Tuisova losing his son to a long-term illness and hooker Sam Matavesi's father dying earlier this week.

Both players stayed in France and Raiwalui said that showed what a special squad it was.

“It's more than just a group, it's a family,” he said. “I think we'll have a bond for the rest of our lives.” 

Reuters