Fiji defeat Canada 29-16

[Jess]

Fiji defeat Canada 29-16

http://en.rugbyworldcup.com/home/fix...+defeat+canada


Fiji have held off a determined Canada to win their Pool B match 29-16 at Millennium Stadium.

But the scoreline did not reflect the closeness of the tussle, especially in the second half.

Indeed, the margin blew out only at the death when Canada, pressing for a try of their own that would have brought them to within a point with the conversion attempt to follow, gave the ball over a metre from the Fiji line. Fiji full back Kameli Ratuvou ran the length of the field to score his second try.

It was rough justice for the Canucks, who had the better of the second half and attacked the Fiji line relentlessly.

The Pacific Islanders led 15-6 at the break on the back of two tries, though the Canucks kept themselves in striking distance thanks to the trusty boot of James Pritchard, who landed two penalty kicks.

Pritchard opened the scoring on five minutes after Fiji were called for a dangerous tackle. But Nicky Little cancelled that out three minutes later when he kicked truly after a Canada offside offence.

Ratuvou missed a great chance to score a try on 20 minutes when he lost the ball while fending off an opponent metres from the line.

But lock Kele Leawere made no mistake three minutes later when he accepted a pass, brushed past one opponent and crossed over for Little to make the conversion.

Pritchard bridged the gap to four points when he landed another penalty kick after Fiji were called for offside.

Ratuvou made amends for his earlier slip when he capped a strong drive forward to go over in the corner.

Fiji picked up where they left off after the break, with wing Vilimoni Delasau going over two minutes after the restart and Little again converting.

Delasau also delighted the crowd soon after, clearing a path through the Canada defence with a series of double-footed hop-steps.

After constant pressure, Canada were finally rewarded with a try on the hour from fly half Ryan Smith, which Pritchard converted to close the margin to nine points.

Canada full back Mike Pyke was denied a try in the 70th minute when the referee, Tony Spreadbury of England, consulted with his TV match official to rule the full back had made a double movement in crossing the line.

[Burgs]

Fiji dreams of quarter-finals

From correspondents in Cardiff
September 16, 2007

FIJI defeated Canada 29-16 at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff as it sighted a return to the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1987.

The Pacific islanders moved into second place in Pool B behind Australia, piling the pressure onto Wales, which they'll meet in a winner-takes-all clash in Nantes on September 29 - with the prize of a last eight place at stake.

Fiji also grabbed a crucial bonus point thanks to a last-minute try from Kameli Ratuvou after Canada had lost the ball pushing for an unlikely win with the score at 22-16 to the islanders.

Fiji captain Moses Rauluni paid tribute to his flying full back.

"When Kameli got to the 22, I had my hand up because I knew he was going to make it," Raulini said.

"It was a great feeling because it meant we got five points and we're in second place. Now we have to face Australia but that will be very tough. We'll have to eliminate our mistakes or they will punish us."

Fiji coach Ilie Tabua said the last-minute try was reward for stout defending.

"The defence was very patient and Kamali's try was brilliant," Tabua said.

"People questioned why I played him at full back and not centre, but he came up trumps today."

Canada's James Pritchard and Fiji fly half Nicky Little, the nephew of former New Zealand centre Walter Little, exchanged early penalties before Fiji stepped up the pressure with its trademark running game.

Ratuvou sped to the try line only to be held up by a fine tackle from Canada skipper Morgan Williams.

But Fiji grabbed the opening try in the 21st minute.

Raulini fed wing Vilimoni Delasau, who released lock forward Kele Leawere for his second try of the tournament.

Little, his country's top points scorer and most-capped player, added the conversion to make the scoreline 10-3 before Pritchard cut the deficit with a penalty.

Fiji was soon back on the attack, and Ratuvou fed Sisa Koyamaibole, whose pass to Rauluni found its way back to Ratuvou, who used his body strength to score his team's second try and make the score 15-6. Little missed the conversion.

Delasau scored Fiji's third try in the second minute of the second half after bursting through four defenders, and Little's conversion gave his side a 22-6 lead.

Canada's stronger forwards laid siege to the Fiji line and they got their reward after laying the platform for fly half Ryan Smith to burst through for a try, with Pritchard adding the conversion to make the scoreline 22-13.

The Canucks were convinced they had scored again in the 70th minute, but Mike Pyke's touchdown was ruled out for a double movement as he grounded the ball.

"I'm glad I'm not the fourth official," Raulini said.

"When it was ruled out for a double movement, I was very relieved. Canada were coming at us but I didn't have a clue about the explanation."

Williams was outraged by the decision after referee Tony Spreadbury had referred it to the video.

"After seeing it on the big screen, it was clearly a try," the Canada captain said.

"He wasn't held in the goal line. I don't understand it."

Pritchard then kicked a penalty to make the score 22-16 as Fiji continued to tire, but the Canucks lost the ball on the Fiji line in the last minute to allow Ratuvou to sprint virtually the length of the pitch to score his team's fourth try.

Canada coach Ric Suggitt said his players had let themselves down.

"It's heartbreaking to lose when you have got so close to the goalline and are just half a metre away," Suggitt said.

"But it's typical Fijian rugby that they just pick up the ball and scamper 100m for a try. If we had stayed more patient, we could have gone home with a one-point win.

"We got to the score zone four or five times and lost possession.

"The players have take a long look at themselves in the mirror. Maybe they lost focus because they were worried about being hit by a big Fijian."

Agence France-Presse

[The EnForcer]

Great result for Fiji but I must admit I was hoping for a Canadia win.

[jargan83]

i think it's good to see some of the "minnow" nations putting in some good performances and nearly pulling of a few upsets

[gustafsl]

Canada blew too many chances, lots of knock-ons and lot of times they had big overlaps and the passes out wide were too slow and they never completly went out wide. However, they still should have been given that try by Pyke. How it can be so blatantly obvious and not given is beyond me.

I thought the video reviewer could review the whole phase before the try? Wouldn't he have then been able to say "yes there was a double move but he wasn't held in the tackle so try is good."

[Jehna]

I thought the video reviewer could review the whole phase before the try? Wouldn't he have then been able to say "yes there was a double move but he wasn't held in the tackle so try is good."

Nah they can't. They made that comment in the Aust vs Wales game because the last try looked slightly dodgy with a potential knock on by wales but the commentator said the video ref couldn't make a decision as to that, only to the try itself

[hopep]

Another "minnow" showing performance and ability above there ranking. Thats what RWC should be all about.

Shame on IRB and NZ for cutting them out of the game in 2011.

[gustafsl]

Nah they can't. They made that comment in the Aust vs Wales game because the last try looked slightly dodgy with a potential knock on by wales but the commentator said the video ref couldn't make a decision as to that, only to the try itself

We are not being able to hear both the referee and the video reviewer like we usually do on Foxtel (they are probably just using someone else's feed so not their fault). So we don't really know what the conversation went, but it would seem that it may have in fact been the referee's fault. I think he asked "can you please check to see if the ball was grounded when he went over the line," referring to when he first slid over, before the 'double move' grounding. So from what Jehna has said the video guy can only check that. Where as if the referee had asked "is there any reason not to award this try." Then I think the video guy can check it all and most likely would have come back with it being a try.

[gustafsl]

Another "minnow" showing performance and ability above there ranking. Thats what RWC should be all about.

Shame on IRB and NZ for cutting them out of the game in 2011.

Depending on how the qualification works Canada and Fiji should both still qualify. Unless they do something stupid like top 12 get in and then the rest is filled: 1 from Asia, 1 from Americas, 1 from Africa, and 1 from Europe. It would then probably be a toss up for the Americas spot between Canada and USA. But I heard they are going to redo the whole qualification process. So for example the top 10 in the World are auto qualifiers, then the next 20 teams go into qualification tournament and the top 6 out of that would get in. So instead of it being zoned like it is now (2 americas, 2 europe etc....) it would theoretically be the best six teams.

New qualification system would be good too as it would allow these 'minnow' nations to play more against each other rather then playing the minnow's of the minnow's to get in. World Cup qualification as it is now is like a three year process. And for example Canada, they are exempt from the first few rounds and to get in they had to beat Bahamas (which they did something like 90-3) and then the USA (something like 60-3). So Canada had two 'really hard' games to get in. Wouldn't it be better if they were put in one big group with Japan, Fiji, Romania etc...and they all played each other to try and get in to the World Cup.

[Seldom]

Great thought G

[Burgs]

As far as I know it hasn't been officially announced as yet, just more "sauces" I believe?
I doubt the IRB will make any announcement until they have reviewed the results of 2007 and, on current form, there would be a pretty good argument to stick with 20 Nations I would think.
To even get one more Pool match out of the 3N teams would nearly pay for the extra teams.

[Jess]

From a financial point of view, would it not make sense to keep it at 20 rather than decreasing it?

More teams = more games = more spectators = more tourism = lots and lots of money.

And surely this world cup shows that the minows can put on one hell of a show (look at Ireland and Georgia).

Keep it at 20 I say.

[gustafsl]

From a financial point of view, would it not make sense to keep it at 20 rather than decreasing it?

More teams = more games = more spectators = more tourism = lots and lots of money.

And surely this world cup shows that the minows can put on one hell of a show (look at Ireland and Georgia).

Keep it at 20 I say.

Apparently it costs something like 400,000 to host a team for a week. So they were saying it would save somewhere between 5-7 million to leave out four teams. But assuming they keep the same format (4 pools round robin, top 2 from each pool into quarters) it would mean 16 less games. So guess they have to determine whether the profit from those 16 games would cover the 5-7million. My guess is that it wouldn't fully cover it, but would probably come close enough. There would be an extra All Black, Wallabies and England game, which would probably all sell out and cover most of the cost right there.

[Burgs]

Assuming decent grounds...

[Jess]

Sounds like a bit of a pickle to me.