Mataiasi Stark 
[Source: Fijian Rugby]
FIJI Water Flying Fijians head coach Jake White admits he expected his side to be more competitive for longer in its 54-17 loss to France, but was encouraged by the team’s refusal to give up despite falling behind early.
The former World Cup-winning coach said Fiji showed glimpses of its attacking brilliance but paid the price for costly mistakes against quality opposition.
“I’m a bit disappointed because I expected us to be a little bit more in the fight for longer. I thought when we started, it looked as though we were going to be in the fight.”
White said momentum quickly shifted after a series of errors, something top-tier teams such as France are quick to punish.
“We just made a couple of mistakes and it’s always the same cliché, but you make mistakes against France and they punish you.”
France crossed for four tries in the opening half to take a commanding 26-3 lead into the break, putting Fiji under pressure for the remainder of the contest.
Despite the scoreboard, White was pleased with the attitude shown by his players, particularly in the second half when the Flying Fijians continued to battle and produced tries through Vinaya Habosi and Selestino Ravutaumada.
“I said to them at halftime that we mustn’t drop our heads and we didn’t give up fighting.”
The Flying Fijians will now look to regroup ahead of their remaining Nations Championship Tests against Ireland and Italy.
