Meli Laddpeter 
Source: Fiji Rugby / Facebook
The Fiji Water Flying Fijians have admitted they came dangerously close to losing a hard-fought 41–33 victory over Spain early this morning.
According to head coach Mick Byrne, a string of “simple mistakes” almost cost Fiji dearly in Malaga.
Byrne singled out breakdown errors, sloppy lineouts, and scrappy scrums as the key areas where Spain capitalized, noting that these lapses gave the hosts several scoring opportunities.
“We were lucky to get out of that at the end. I give full credit to Spain, they were passionate, they kept coming after us. We started the game and has several areas of avoidable penalties.”
Spain – currently ranked 14th in the world – offered fierce resistance against the Flying Fijians, who sit at 8th on the World Rugby rankings.
The two teams traded blows throughout the match, with momentum swinging both ways in a high-intensity contest.
Byrne was quick to praise Spain for making them earn every point. He stressed that despite the victory, the Fijian coaching staff would be dissecting every phase – particularly the breakdown and set pieces – to tighten up execution.
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