Api Naikatini leads Fiji in the cibi against England in the opening match of the European tour. Photo: Planet Rugby
The Flying Fijians finally turned the tables around in Europe to grab their first win in their final match, beating Georgia 24-19 Sunday morning.
Hard lessons were learned against England, Gloucester and Ireland A but Flying Fijians team manager, Aseri Rokoura says the players pulled together and did everything right to win.
“It was a very tough game, we expected Georgia to be tough with their size and most of them playing in France,” he said.
“However, the boys managed to deliver especially in the set-pieces, the lineouts and in scrums, much improvement was seen in the scrum, the boys tried to improve in their contact areas, apart from the pressure from the team and the crowd, the boys performed exceptionally well but there’s still room for improvement in the backline and defensive structures.”
Fiji trailed 19-18 at halftime but converted two penalty goals in the second spell to secure the win.
Jonetani Ralulu was awarded the man of the match award.
This was Georgia’s fourth consecutive defeat after suffering losses to Canada, USA and Japan.
This morning the Flying Fijians farewelled France-based reps, Metuisela Talebula, Jovili Domolailai and Saula Radidi.
The team will head to London tomorrow, UK-based players, Vereniki Goneva and Nikola Matawalu will return to their clubs.
• FRU
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