Taina Basiyalo 
[Source: Fiji Rugby/ Facebook]
FIJI Water Flying Fijians head coach Mick Byrne says the Autumn Nations Series may have delivered just one win, but it also revealed the building blocks of a team quietly gearing up for a strong push to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Reflecting on their final campaign of the year, Byrne admits they were disappointed with parts of their performances, saying they made avoidable errors and penalties early on, especially against France.
He adds that despite the setbacks, Fiji showed strong passages of play and applied real pressure, but missed chances and early errors proved costly.
Byrne says Fiji made too many early mistakes against Spain but looked strong whenever they stuck to their structures.
“We missed opportunities, we were a little bit loose with the ball at the beginning of Spain, created too many errors. But when we did execute our plan, stick to our plan, we looked very good. Overall, while it was disappointing to only get the one victory, there were some really good signs there as we built towards 27.”
He adds some of the execution issues against England were expected, given how long the team had been together.
“I think there was a bit of execution and decision making against England. It’s probably to be expected a little bit when you first come together after such a long period of time away. That team that went out against England hadn’t played together since July. A lot of those players hadn’t been in the side since July.”
The side touched down in Nadi yesterday morning after wrapping up their final campaign of the year, the Northern Tour.
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