Manu calls for more island magic
Fiji captain Deacon Manu urged Pacific teams not to let the region’s trademark flamboyant rugby die after his team were marched out of the World Cup by attritional Samoa.
The all-Pacific Pool D clash was expected to be a showcase of spontaneous, free-running rugby but turned into a dour battle dominated by Samoa’s forwards and the boot of their flyhalf, Tusi Pisi.
Tonga have also relied heavily on their forward pack while on Sunday, Samoa stifled Fiji’s renowned creativity by simply denying their backs the ball, and were rewarded with a 27-7 win.
Manu said exciting, running rugby remained the strength of the Pacific game and needed to be nurtured, despite an onus on a high-percentage, defensive style at successive World Cups.
“This competition is the hardest competition in rugby and there’s a huge emphasis on defence,” Manu said.
“And traditionally if you look at all the teams that have won World Cups it’s been a huge defensive set that’s got them through. I don’t think the flair will go away from Pacific island rugby, that’s a strength of Pacific island rugby. And if Pacific islands want to challenge in tournaments like this we’ve got to make sure we keep that alive,” he insisted.
The World Cup has long been a platform for Pacific players who are now a common feature of European club rugby and even play for international teams like England and Australia.
“We want to make sure that in Pacific island rugby, we try to play rugby,” Manu said. “That’s one of the strengths, I think we don’t go to the kicking game of the English sides or the northern hemisphere sides.
“We still want to play rugby (although) we probably didn’t achieve that today.”
But Samoa skipper Mahonri Schwalger said Pacific derbies were often tight affairs. The game was also played in slippery conditions which did not favour Fiji’s style.
“When you play the Pacific islands teams, especially Fiji, it’s always pretty tough to play these type of games,” Schwalger said.
“We’re pretty happy with the way we performed, we could have come out with a bonus point but that’s how it goes.”
Samoa can now qualify for their third World Cup quarterfinal if they beat South Africa on Friday while Fiji will play their last match of the tournament against Wales next Sunday.
AFP
