0
Australia A crushes Fiji
July 14, 2006 - 11:48pm
Story by: Sportal
Digby Ioane and Cameron Shepherd both ran in three tries as Australia A demolished Fiji 47-18 in their clash at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.
The visitors were no match for an Australian side boasting eight Wallabies in their run-on squad, the visitors wreaking havoc right across the field.
It took Australia A just seven minutes to put points on the board when Shepherd crossed for his first try, the fullback finishing off a damaging run from Wycliff Palu.
Shepherd added further five-pointers in the 37th and 48th minutes in an outstanding display, while Ioane scored either side of the break before capping off a man-of-the-match performance with another later in the second half.
Adam Ashley-Cooper crossed shortly after coming off the bench in midway through the second term, before Fiji began to find form a little too late.
Mosese Luveitasau, Akapusi Qera and Jeremaiya Tuivela all crossed for tries in the final 10 minutes of the match, but it proved too little too late for the visitors.
Coach Laurie Fisher was impressed with his team's overall performance, but was annoyed with lapses late in the match that allowed Fiji their three tries.
"The good thing is that nobody let themselves down, I don't think there was a bad player out there tonight,"
"But we could do things a whole lot better.
"All the guys who were given an opportunity all played well and that is all you can do in games like this - play well as an individual and perform well as a team, and the rest of the things look after themselves."
Fisher singled out Ioane for praise, acknowledging his continuing improvement on the field.
"He's a fantastic athlete, he has got speed, great footwork and tremendous strength," Fisher said.
"He is improving his communication and his knowledge of the game, so it is only upwards and onwards for him."
From the ARU site...
http://www.rugby.com.au/news/austral.../section/21893
Reply With Quote
