Fiji call on scrum doctor
Former Wallabies hooker and new Waratahs coach Michael Foley will help prepare Fiji’s forwards for their crucial World Cup clash with world champions South Africa in Wellington on Saturday.
Foley, who played 50 tests at hooker for Australia and was a member of the 1999 World Cup-winning team, has been working as a scrum consultant to the Fiji team and has been rushed into their camp to prepare their scrum for Saturday’s meeting with the formidable Springbok pack.
Fiji opened their World Cup campaign with a 49-25 win over Namibia and although the coaching staff were generally happy with the performance, the match raised minor concerns about the strength of the Fiji scrum.
Despite his appointment last month as head coach of Sydney-based Super Rugby team the Waratahs, Foley has found time to answer Fiji’s call for assistance ahead of their toughest match in Pool D.
Fiji assistant coach, Australian-born Gregg Mumm said Foley had played an important role in mentoring a young Fijian pack.
“Between Michael and myself and (captain) Deacon (Manu), who brings a lot of experience, we’ve continued to develop our game and we’re making good headway,” Mumm said.
“We’ve got some young props – Waisea Nailago is just going to get better with exposure and obviously Campese Ma’afu is still quite young in terms of tests at this level,” he explained.
South Africa began their World Cup title defence with a 17-16 win over Wales on Sunday in a tough and intensely physical match in Wellington. Fiji’s coaching team watched the match and were pleased to see the Springboks physically tested by Wales who dominated in terms of territory and possession.
The match left South Africa with injury concerns around lock Victor Matfield (hamsting) and centre Jean de Villiers (sprained rib cartilage).
“Both sides (South Africa and Wales) showed their hand a little bit in relation to the style and the intent they’re going to play,” Fiji assistant coach Shannon Fraser said. “I think they’ve both had a real good crack at each other which is to our benefit I guess.”
Fiji trained in rain on Tuesday at Porirua Park north of Wellington. Fraser said the team was not yet concerned about the affect similar weather conditions this weekend might have on Fiji’s traditional expansive game.
“At the moment we’re not letting that play on us, we’re focusing very much on our own preparation,” he said. “We’re focusing on making the required adjustments from our last performance, our tactical application for this game, so it’s not enjoyable weather but we’re hoping the sun might appear pretty soon.”
Fraser said Fiji has a full squad to select from for Saturday’s match.
“Full credit to the medical and strength and conditioning staff that the bodies seem to be in pretty good shape, as we took a bit of a battering against Namibia,” he said.
SAPA-AP
