Fiji’s general manager Geoff Webster feels as though his nation are in the best shape they ever have been heading into a Rugby World Cup.
The Fijians are in a pool with Australia,
Wales, Georgia and Uruguay, in what is a tough pool, but Webster is hopeful
that they can reach the quarter-finals this year.
“We get a puncher’s chance in World Cups, because we’re together for 12 weeks before the tournament, as opposed to five days before the first November international. We certainly go into this World Cup as the best prepared Flying Fijian team ever. We put a lot of resourcing behind it and we’ve got a very strong coaching staff and a world class S&C group. The challenge for us is whether our 12 weeks of preparation, and the improvement in cohesion we can build over that time, is enough to bridge the gap to where teams like the Wallabies and Wales start,” he said.
If the Fijians do make it out of their pool
it will be only the third time that they have done so with the previous two coming
in 1987 and 2007.
Webster believes that the team who lost two
of their six warm-up games have become stronger since they reduced their squad.
“Since the coaches cut the squad down [from 42 to 31] the team has been training in a much more focused, tactical way. We will have had a three-week gap by the time we play the Wallabies and whilst there are some negatives to that, the positives are that you shouldn’t get as many injuries and you don’t get any suspensions. Because you’re not in a test week, having to do units and get your game plan in, a team can do much more quality work in key areas, without the rush or having to work against the clock. Once players know that they’re on the plane, there’s a noticeable lift in focus, too,” he added.
The short turnarounds that the Fijians face
between matches could make their task even tougher, but once again when
discussing it Webster refused to give up his belief and is motivated to show what
the Fijians can do.
“What did Mike Tyson say? Everyone’s got a plan until you get punched in the face, so we’ll see where we are when the bell rings. We’ve got to answer the count when the punches start getting thrown,” he continued.
Fiji open up their World Cup campaign on
Saturday September 21st against the Wallabies where we will hopefully
get an indication of just how good the Fijians will be this time around, with
the neutrals hoping this could be their year.
