Fiji may have won the battle against Ireland at the National Stadium in Singapore on Saturday afternoon, but the defending two-time Olympic gold medalist still missed out on the cup quarter-finals.
For the first time in the SVNS Series in 2023/24, Fiji will be vying for the best possible finish of ninth with a disappointing opening day at the Singaporean venue ultimately defining their campaign.
With a relatively new coach, Osea Kolinisau, at the helm, and a group of enthusiastic fans in the stands, Fiji were without a win on the first day after falling to the United States and Great Britain.
But the new day offers new opportunities. The SVNS series features the two best third-placed teams in pool play to qualify for the quarter-finals, but Fiji needed to beat Ireland to have a chance.
Fiji were good enough to defeat the Fighting Irish 26-19 on a rainy afternoon, but Mark Roche's ninth-minute conversion proved crucial as the Men in Green were awarded a losing bonus point.
Ireland, who finished second in the overall series standings prior to the event in Singapore, qualified for the next round as the third-placed team in Group C, while Fiji finished one point behind in last place.
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“Mostly disappointed. Coach Osea Kolinisau said: I think we dug ourselves into a hole today Rugby Pass. “Ireland are a good team.
“We got the win but yesterday, the ball didn't go our way. Most of the things we talked about in those two games we didn't execute, and this is the SVNS series for you.
“When you don't carry out a death sentence, you are punished for it.
“It was a big request from the players because we came and played against a good Irish team who came out to play but the points were not enough today.
“More frustration about yesterday. If we had had a difficult result yesterday it would have been a different story when we beat Ireland today.”
“I think this overshadows the performance we wanted. We did not play to our standards yesterday and we will come back and talk about what we can do better, especially against Madrid.”
Coach Coliniçao, who replaced Ben Gollings in the position two months ago, was clearly disappointed after his exit from the field. This is a team that expects excellence from itself.
But sometimes, as Coliniçao noted, “the ball wasn't our way.” The SVNS series is unforgiving, but the Fijians can take some positives from their grand final woe in Madrid.
Fiji, who have already qualified as one of the eight teams vying for the overall title of the tournament at the Metropolitano Stadium later this month, will have a chance to make amends soon.
“There's a lot to learn. When you lose, you learn a lot of things about yourself,” explained Kolinisau, who won an Olympic gold medal with Fiji at the 2016 Rio Games.
“We stumbled yesterday and that is something we have to come back to and address and try to improve in the three and a half weeks before Madrid arrives.
“This is the beauty of sports and the beauty of this game. You have to go back and correct your mistake that you learned from the last tournament.
“There's a lot of learning especially in terms of the mental side of things we have to do right.”
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