As the World Cup’s return rapidly approaches its time to look at one of the more likely sides to force an upset – Fiji. The Flying Fijjians are the highest ranked side in Pool C competing with Australia, Wales and Georgia, who are all ranked 8th or lower on the World Rugby rankings. Riding in on a wave of historic success, having beaten England at Twickenham, Fiji will certainly be a side to watch at RWC 2023.
Flying In Attack
Unsurprisingly Fiji brought an incredible attack to the table, having scored over 30 points in every game of the Pacific Nations Cup. Their attack was primarily driven by a desire to spread the ball and stretch the opposition. This is shown in the Bajad8ta Database, with Fiji playing 19% of their phases off the second playmaker. Only Japan in international rugby play more rugby Off 12 than the Flying Fijians.
This try against Japan shows how Fiji’s intent to spread the ball looks on the grass. Coming off quick ball following a break a few phases before Fiji are in control. The first receiver takes the ball wide off the scrum half and drifts out further looking to engage the Japanese defenders. The Box shape Fiji are running gives 3 options for the ball carrier and he pulls it back to a sweeper. The sweeper beats the first up tackle and is able to then offload to the 11. The left winger then attacks for the line but offloads as he is dragged down metres short assisting a great Fiji try.
We see the same strengths in this play against Samoa: a late sweep into position from Semi Radradra allows the Fijian’s to spread the ball. The key enabler of their wide attack is how deep the Fijianm 13 receives the ball. This draws out the outside pressure of the Samoan defenders and means he can fire the ball across their face to the unmarked 8 on the outside.
Another enabler of this wide attack is Fiji’s excellent ball skills. They have thrown 0.1 offloads per carry more than any Tier 1 nation apart from France in their 7 games since 2021. Take their fourth try against Japan, again we see the sweepers working behind the backline. This stretches the Japanese defensive line, opening the hole for Fiji’s forwards to run through. Two great offloads keep the ball alive and allow Fiji to carve through.
This shows the great benefit of the Fijian Drua in Super Rugby Pacific, 18 of the 33 man squad are from the Super Rugby side. This results in an increased cohesion and a team regularly playing with the same mentality as the national team. For example, Fijian Drua’ threw more offloads per carry than 95% of professional teams.
The Drua’s radar (driven by Oval Insights Data) could point to one area they might struggle – with the lowest kicks per game of any side in the Oval Insights database covering games across Professional Rugby. The Drua’s average of 13.8 kicks per game while the national side are not much higher at 15.1 per game. Game management will be key for Flying Fijian’s otherwise sides may manage to pin back their excellent attack.
The other impressive feature of Fiji’s play is how physical they are on defence in spite of a lower line speed. We saw this in the pacific nations cup, as Fiji used their defence to establish control. Take a look at this clip against Japan. They aren’t necessarily racing off the line but instead absorb Japan and slow the ball down at ruck time. This ruck policy is also shown in their team style radar with the Fijian’s winning more turnovers than the average side.
Against England their ability over the ball was an important reason for their success. Look at how these two pieces of breakdown work stop England’s attack and allow Fiji to relieve some pressure. The ability of the jackal to get hands onto the ball and be set in a strong position before any clear out is key to their success. As you can see with the first one, even the 9s are in on the action, with the jackalling ability perhaps a result of the popularity of sevens.
Pool C Favourites
Fiji enter the tournament in a new role, favourites with a great chance of escaping their pool. They face a Wales team they outrank on the World Rankings, as well as an Australia side at their lowest ever world ranking. There will be struggles, with their kicking game a possible achilles heel. However they have all the weapons to cause teams problems once they get further up the pitch. Entering the tournament having beaten England away will bring the side a great deal of confidence and their game against Wales will certainly be one to watch as they kick start their tournament next week.
The Analysis Guy 