By BRIAN LOWE
IT’S one down and two to go for Fiji as they set a course to clinch pool D at the World Cup.
The Bati kicked off their RLWC 2017 campaign with a big 58-12 victory over the United States Saturday night in Townsville.
They made their intentions known right from the get-go, scoring the first of 11 tries within minutes of the opening kickoff. Fiji made good yardage with every set and were up 20-0 before the game had even reached the end of the first quarter.
The US was on the back foot for most of the 80 minutes, and certainly in the first half, had trouble completing their sets.
“Fiji are a combination of being very fine athletes, but pretty smart as well, especially around the ruck,” United States head coach Brian McDermott said at the post-match press conference.
And he was right, the Fijians were very quick around the rucks, which is where they did a lot of damage setting up their ball carriers to bash through the opposition off the edge. That tactic paid off as the Hawks eventually tired by having to play so much defence.
For Fiji, skipper Kevin Naiqama led by example dotting down for a brace of tries, as did winger Suliasi Vunivalu.
“The boys really bought in, complacency never crept into our camp at all,” said Naiqama.
“We paid total respect to the USA, we knew they were going to be a tough side and we wanted to start fast. I think the boys did really well in our first game, but in saying that, there’s a lot of things we can work on.”
On the flip side, the US didn’t give up as some teams might have done when on the wrong end of a lathering and were rewarded for their efforts with a couple of well-earned tries.
The first by second-rower Matt Shipway in the first half was a handy effort in which he showed his ability to step off either foot, while the second was just deserts for hard-running centre Junior Vaivai late in the piece.
Earlier in the game, Vaivai was denied what looked to have been a brilliant try when the video ref determined that he hadn’t completely re-entered the field of play before catching the ball on the bounce.
All in all, though, Hawks captain Mark Offerdahl is confident the team can do better.
“At times we managed them well when we committed three in the tackle,” he said.
“We’ll keep working. Italy is going to be just as good, they’re all NRL stars as well. I’m sure Mac will break it down and give us a new game plan to try to beat Italy.”
As a sidebar, Fiji’s Kane Evans broke his arm in the process of scoring a try and will likely miss the rest of the World Cup.
And US halfback Matt Walsh has been ruled out of the tournament with a herniated disc. 2013 national team hooker Tui Samoa was a late call-up to take his place in the squad.
