Congrats to Portugal. That's a well-deserved win!
RWC Week 5: Fiji
Match thread
Portugal
Awesome seeing how happy those Portuguese players and supporters are, that’s their WC final.
Stoked for them.
Stats - basically Portugal behind everywhere but the scoreboard.
The team that wins the Final won't look any happier than the Portuguese.
@Steven-Harris said in RWC Week 5: Fiji v Portugal:
Best minnow team I have ever seen at a RWC
Not sure about that. I've ben quite impressed with Uruguay's and Chile's efforts as well.
Portugal were fun to watch, played really Well. @MiketheSnow the only one who always believed in them, haha
Told you boys
Sorry they couldn’t win by more to put Australia through
Fiji are the dumbest team in World Rugby
if Portugal get to play a NZ team of any description in Portugal I'd be tempted to go on tour. Haven't been there in over a quarter of a century but I bet the seafood and alcohol is still on point.
@nostrildamus Wouldn't be a bad opponent for the Māori ABs. I'd love them to do a tour to Europe and play some of these tier 2/3 teams.
@Stargazer nah we have played them before at RWC, was it 2007?
@Stargazer for me its the style of rugby they play and they know and understand where their strengths are and the skill level in the backs is sensational and they have something you cant coach ,Pace
Chile and Uruguay have been good ,but this Portuguese side are an exciting side to watch
Some of these WC results show us how competitive international rugby could be… if only it were a level playing field.
IRB get your heads out of your arse, grow some balls and create a competition that allows these teams to play consistently at a higher level.
If fiji had regathered the kick off, would they even have tried to win the game? The way they played they would probably ship another try and let Australia through.
What a great game. Some of the games between the tier 2 teams have been fantastic. The level of rugby has raised since the last world cup IMHO. The best is yet to come in the next 3 weeks me thinks.
@NTA said in RWC Week 5: Fiji v Portugal:
Flawed, but amazing game. That's why rugby is better than any other sport.
Couldn't agree more, see the shkill level may of been done, but all the drama etc that you want from a sport. I was transfixed!
@Gunner said in RWC Week 5: Fiji v Portugal:
Some of these WC results show us how competitive international rugby could be… if only it were a level playing field.
IRB get your heads out of your arse, grow some balls and create a competition that allows these teams to play consistently at a higher level.
I agree they could look at the crowd-pleasing games and tweak the rules to encourage that.
@Bovidae said in RWC Week 5: Fiji v Portugal:
Even though Fiji dropped a lot of ball their problems started at 9 and 10.
This has been a traditional weakness hasn't it?
@nostrildamus said in RWC Week 5: Fiji v Portugal:
@Bovidae said in RWC Week 5: Fiji v Portugal:
Even though Fiji dropped a lot of ball their problems started at 9 and 10.
This has been a traditional weakness hasn't it?
Yes, but the 1st 5 (Botitu) that played today was an injury replacement, so is third-choice at best. Maybe Tela is also injured.
Lomani is also very hot and cold.
Now that Portugal are out can we ditch McCleod for their defence coach?
It was like watching the Fiji of old there. Captain obvious, but they'll get hammered in the QF if they produce that kind of performance again.
That was like watching the Ghost of Fiji Past. Hopefully will be a wake up call to them, they've been so good in other games recently.
Amazing game though, so happy for Portugal.
Just a reminder that the IRB are actively working to screw over teams like Portugal with their new World League - if that gets off the ground then Portugal will probably never play a tier 1 nation outside of the RWC again
@mariner4life said in RWC Week 5: Fiji v Portugal:
Loving this rangy Portuguese openside.
He's having a stormer
He was brilliant.
What a game aye. You have to love an underdog getting a win like that.
I still hold some hope that if Fiji play the right way (mainly a forward dominated game) they can cause real problems. They were far too loose and careless today and a very energetic Portugal side took their chances.
@GibbonRib said in RWC Week 5: Fiji v Portugal:
That was like watching the Ghost of Fiji Past. Hopefully will be a wake up call to them, they've been so good in other games recently.
That's what the Georgia game should have been.
Fiji have steadily gotten worse since playing Wales.
@ACT-Crusader said in RWC Week 5: Fiji v Portugal:
I still hold some hope that if Fiji play the right way (mainly a forward dominated game) they can cause real problems. They were far too loose and careless today and a very energetic Portugal side took their chances.
It looked like they thought they could just chuck it wide and punch holes; clearly nobody in the Fiji camp watched Portugal's defence in the other games they had. Fast, low, accurate.
@NTA said in RWC Week 5: Fiji v Portugal:
Flawed, but amazing game. That's why rugby is better than any other sport.
Except in the Australian press, they are harping on about Portugal beating the team that beat Australia. I'm afraid this sort of PR will take some time to overcome.