Rugby

AUS 39-21 FIJ: Comments from Ben Volavola and Leone Nakarawa

September 21, 2019 4:57 pm

[Source: World Rugby]

Comments from Fiji fly-half Ben Volavola and lock Leone Nakarawa after Australia beat Fiji 39-21 in Pool D at Sapporo Dome on Saturday

Ben Volavola:
On the difference between the first and second-half displays by Australia:

“The difference in the game in the second half was down to the change in strategy by the Wallabies and they decided to play a wide game and it enabled them to stretch the field out and it is something we have to work on defensively.

“There was indiscipline from us and when we don’t have the ball over and over again then you tend to lose a lot of energy.”

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On how effective the Australian maul is as an attacking weapon:

“Australia work hard for the full 80 minutes and are one of the world’s best teams for a reason.

“Australia also have one of the world’s best mauls and our forward pack knew that coming into this game and with our indiscipline we allowed them to bring the maul into game and when you do that against the Wallabies it is always dangerous.”

On defending for long periods in the second half and their fitness levels:

“I enjoyed the whole game and that was due to the training we have done and that is credit to the coaches and the strength and conditioning coaches. We are probably in the best shape for the campaign.

“I guess it did start falling away in the second half and we allowed them to get into our half and they put points on us. We did score early in both halves and we will have to review the match and see if there were better decisions that could have been made on the field.

“It felt that if we could keep the scoreboard ticking over we would continue the momentum we had.”

On losing flanker Peceli Yato with a concussion in the first half:

“We have total belief in our squad and Moses Voka knows his role as well as Peceli Yato does. Peceli was having a really great game when he had to go off.”


Leone Nakarawa

On Australia’s change of strategy in the second half:
“They really played well the second half but there is no excuse. We wanted to come here to win. In the second half we did not play to our strengths and that resulted in our performance.”

On whether he was happy with his overall performance:

“It was not to that level I want to play but I accept that because I know that there are three more games to go and still more improvement to come. So it is not the end of the campaign. For myself, no one is perfect, and it does not matter how high you play or what level you play at, you are still a human being. So, I am still human. I make mistakes. I am going to learn every day and I will keep working on my weakness and trying to improve and to improve as a team.”