Give Blood – Play Rugby

Fijians brave, but Boks prevail

By MARC HINTON in Marseille - RugbyHeaven | Sunday, 7 October 2007 

Brave, brave Fiji gave the mighty Springboks a shakeup, and the fright of their lives, before the South Africans prevailed 37-20 in an entertaining third quarter-final of the World Cup at the Stade Velodrome.

The Fijians shocked everyone in attendance when they scored two tries while a man down in a three-minute burst midway through the second spell to level at 20-20, and were unlucky not to hit the lead 13 minutes out when lock Ifereimi Rawaqa was within inches of scoring in the left corner before JP Pieteren’s timely interjection.

But from there the bruised Boks recovered their poise and spent most of the last 10 minutes camped in enemy territory, collecting tries to Juan Smith and Butch James for their efforts as the Fijians finally flagged.

Still there was no escaping the spirit, adventure and contribution the Fijians brought to the occasion, not just entertaining the crowd with their high-tempo rugby but unsettling the South Africans on more than one occasion. The Boks had to dig deep to prevail, and the relieved look on their faces at the finish was testament itself to the mark the island nation has left on this tournament.

South Africa, faithfully attempting to play the no-frills game they had pledged to all week, took a while to get their show on the road, just a try to Jaque Fourie in the 13th minute and a long-range Frans Steyn penalty to show for an 8-0 lead through the first quarter.

Fourie’s score came when the Boks showed good patience off a Bakkies Botha lineout win, worked the phases and, when Juan Smith went close with the first lunge, eventually sprung the midfielder as the extra man wide on the left.

Fiji, though, were hanging tough, and there was no doubt the islanders were in this for the long haul. They had their own moments of opportunity too, even if they could never quite break the disciplined Boks defensive line.

Still, Ilie Tabue’s men would not have been the unhappiest to concede just one more five-pointer, and a 3-13 deficit, heading into the sheds at the break. It was the same score as the French had trailed the All Blacks by the night before, and we all know what happened there.

The South Africans’ second score came five minutes from the break and, like the earlier touchdown, it was strictly no-frills footy. The Boks took the short lineout off a penalty option and executed the take and drive with precision, hooker John Smit the beneficiary.

When the Fijians, getting some big performances out of their loosies Sisa Koyamaibole and Akapusi Qera, narrowed the gap to just seven points with a second Seremaia Bai penalty early in the second spell you wondered just how comfortably Jake and Eddie were sitting in the stands.

But then 11 minutes into the second spell the game appeared to turn on its head. Big time. Pietersen was put across for a try wide on the right, via a skilful inside pass from Victor Matfield, and in the same play phase Fiji second five Seru Rabeni was sinbinned for a high hit on Butch James, a call he later said he felt was harsh. With the islanders down to 14 men and the Boks up 20-6 it looked like this could get ugly.

But these Fijians are made of much more stern stuff than that. We found that out in an incredible three-minute burst when they scored two tries and levelled the scores at 20-20 to send this 55,000-strong crowd into party mode.

The first went to Vilimoni Delasau with a brilliant kick and chase from halfway, the right wing doing well to spot Percy Montgomery up in the line, and the second to his fellow flyer Sireli Bobo after Norman Ligairi and Mosese Rauluni had carved the Boks up down the middle.

A Percy Montgomery penalty edged the Boks ahead by three, but when Rawaqa went so close soon after it remained anybody’s game. Pietersen’s try-saving tackle was later lauded by the Boks as their key moment of inspiration. Sure enough they finally settled after it, Juan Smith crossing via the dominant scrum 10 minutes from time and Butch James sealing the deal on time when South Africa had laid siege on the Fijian line.

The Fijians had many heroes, but none played harder for them than their inspirational skipper Rauluni who had a blinder. Delasau and Bobo gave the Boks fits out on the wings, Rabeni was a constant threat on the hitup and Seremaia Bai did a fine job stepping into Nicky Little’s boots. Up front their pack battled till the end, outgunned only at scrum time, and those loose forwards gave as good as they received all match.

The Boks will regard this as their wakeup call. They got there in the end but it was none too convincing and they will assuredly have to play much better than this in next week’s semifinal. Smith and skipper Smit were the pick of the Bok forwards, the captain’s rallying of the troops for the final quarter crucial, while Pietersen was the best of a backline that didn’t always keep its poise.

It wasn’t always pretty, but as coach Jake White noted later at least his team is still in the tournament, as opposed to the other Tri-Nations sides. It was hard to fault that logic.

South Africa 37: Jaque Fourie, John Smit, JP Pietersen, Juan Smith, Butch James tries; Percy Montgomery pen, 3 cons; Francois Steyn pen.

Fiji 20: Vilimoni Dealasau, Sireli Bobo tries; Seremaia Bai 2 pens, 2 cons. Ht: 13-3.