Australia and Fiji faced off for the second time in two world cups and this one promised to be an influential game in the two teams to progress from group D. The Australian’s the favourites came against a fijian side packed with super stars.
The game started with a period of fiian domination. Reaching roughly 350 points on th Rugbycology rating scale. This dominance led to them racing out and grabbing a lead through efforts from Peceli Yato, but most importantly the control of Ben Volovola, who slotted 3 first half penalties. This added element of control has turned Fiji from an animal who would attack before retreating not to be seen, to a developing beast of test match rugby, as they exert scoreboard pressure on teams.
But to a large degree, Australia were the masters of the game allowing Fijian esque flair to seep into a system with little desire to run on that fuel. This meant that Australia stuttered and were unable to really put any sort of phase work together, giving away in all 65% of possession surrendering it to a Fiji team who loved to counter attack. This was prehaps best illustrated in how much Reece Hodge struggled, he was constantly ran at and outpowered leading to a build up of anger, resulting in a shoulder charge on Yato. However while Yato stumbled off a victim of concussion Hodge escaped unpunished and with it, chances swung from Fiji to Australia.
Australia did look likely to wrest control finally getting some control and changing tack to attack Fiji close to the ruck. The try scored by Hooper was a marker, yet not one listened to by the backs, yet. Hoopers try came following a series of pick and gos, limiting the chances for Fiji’s ferocity and really damaging the line speed of their defence.
The real key to unlocking Fiji however lay at Nic White’s feet. His little snipe and pass draws in the fijian defender making Hoopers job significantly easier and more efficient. By playing on Fiji’s typical aggressiveness the Australians were able to start to gain an advantage.
And this is how they should have played for the rest of the game. However, Just after half time, they decided to be a bit more adventurous. Leaving an opportunity for the Fijians to exploit.
The image above shows, the problem.Without any real fixing on the inside, with no real threat Fiji are allowed to be aggressive. As a result, they force the Australians to put the ball to the ground. This ball, fortuitously perhaps bounces into the on rushing Fijiain 13 allowing him to break away and score.
The want by Australia to play wide limited their effectiveness. While against worse teams it may not work against Fiji it liberates them from shackles and allows them to play with freedom, remembered from the time on the beach, or in their small village.
The majority of Australia’s tries came from the forwards, with Hoopers and Latu’s tries coming directly from a confrontational set up. This was coupled with both Hodge and Kervi scoring tries after extensive wallaby pressure inside the 5m line.
The genuine desire in the side was hampered by poor discipline with Botia’s Yellow card a decisive factor in Kerevi’s try as Australia put numbers to work. This is interesting, in the fact that they only scored one try. The strong defence of Fiji really shows a significant development.
However, the major attacking blow came from Koribette with a well worked set play off an Australian Lineout.
The move exploited a dropped back 3, enabling australia o quickly attack the wide channels. This rapid movement of the ball brought on by bouts of handling magic, from O’connor followed by Haylett-Petty with a silky offload under pressure. This simple working to exploited edge showed how dangerous the Wallabies can be, and shows that they won’t just rely on Hooper and forward strength to drive them to World Cup victory.
Overall Fiji can be happy with how they played, the rapid start showed just how dangerous they can be however, It also points to their soft underbelly, a forward dominated attritional game could well be their underdoing. Meanwhile, Australia perhaps made tough work of the game but they can be pleased with how they wrested back control and eventually rolled Fiji over.
The Analysis Guy 