Ba Rugby head coach and former Flying Fijians winger, Filimoni Delasau, believes the FIJI Water Flying Fijians face a challenging match as they prepare to take on the New Zealand All Blacks in San Diego this Saturday.
Delasau points out that the Flying Fijians have a significant challenge ahead, considering they are up against a team that has already played two major Test matches, while the Fijian team is still in a phase of building and regrouping.
“This is an uphill battle for our boys, knowing they are at a disadvantage since the All Blacks have prepared well, played two bigger Test matches than us, and are ranked as one of the best in the world,” Delasau said.
The former winger commented that ideally, the Flying Fijians would have benefited from having two major Test matches before this game.
However, the task is now set for the national team to take on the All Blacks.
“The team has been gelling well and training hard, and their task has been set. We look forward to a good game,” he added.
Delasau also mentioned that with strong wingers like Peniasi Dakuwaqa and Jiuta Wainiqolo, Fiji has a promising combination.
He further stated that the Flying Fijians need to incorporate their unique Fijian flair into the game, to avoid a predictable and structured style.
“From our time till now, rugby has developed with so many rules and structures, and players play a structured game plan which becomes predictable for the opposition. Just like our Drua team, when they played in their third year of competition, all the teams were able to read our next move.
“For this match against the All Blacks, it will be beneficial for the Flying Fijians to inject some Fijian flair into the game to open it up instead of playing a structured game,” Delasau added.
The Flying Fijians and All Blacks Test match kicks off at 2.30pm on Saturday.