Steve Borthwick’s side played with the weight of the world on their shoulders in their first defeat at the hands of FijiWe are running out of synonyms for crisis. Turmoil, disaster, catastrophe, disarray, calamity … put them all together and they barely do justice to England’s predicament. They had never failed to beat Fiji by double figures before this but as the clock ticked down in the final few minutes the Pacific Islanders could bask in the glory of their history-making feats. The blue Fijian flags fluttered in a sun-soaked corner of Twickenham, their supporters dancing with delight. England’s white flags had long since been waved.Fijian pitch invaders were embraced by their teammates, England supporters – those who turned up...
Research finds players who perform war dances reach elevated heart rates before their rivals. Is it an unsporting advantage?Should the Haka be scrapped from rugby? Let’s ask a different, less inflammatory question. If the New Zealand Haka and equivalents like the Fijian Cibi and the Tonga Sipi Tau provides an unfair advantage to those teams that perform it before kick off, should there be a limit on when and where those teams can do so?Research conducted this year at the University of Queensland’s School of Human Movement found that players who performed these war dances reached elevated heart rate levels moments before the start of the match. Those squats and lunges are the equivalent of undergoing a warm-up while the...
Fiji are now full of players central to their clubs, and Sunday’s match can show their sevens stars’ skills are transferable Around this time of year and at Rugby World Cup time, I’ll get some emails or calls from journalists all pretty much saying the same thing: “So Fiji, they always get a short straw etc, etc. Players in other teams, no training time, no money, no resources.” It’s always the same.There was a time not very long ago that those statements held true. Pacific teams were on the back foot all the time. Tonga and Samoa are still in need of serious help but for Fiji, who play Wales on Sunday, life is very different now. Continue reading...
The sunshine of successive Olympic golds will spread far and wide throughout a Pacific island community ravaged by CovidI got asked on Twitter why the Fijian players always cry when the national anthem is played. It’s true - most of the time that happens and sometimes it’s so emotionally overwhelming it derails the performance if not kept in check. The initial reaction was to say: “Well it’s obvious isn’t it?” But, that would assume the wider public know about what it really means to all Fijians.On Wednesday the beautiful nation of Fiji won only its second Olympic gold medal, both in the country’s national sport, rugby sevens. There are now 25 Fijians from those two teams who have won a...
England, Ireland and Wales are among the throng pushing to challenge New Zealand as the World Cup enters crunch timeNormal service has been resumed. After the surreal scenes of the All Blacks not being No 1 (Wales were, then Ireland!) they enter the quarter‑finals back at the top of the rankings, rated by the bookies as twice as likely to win the tournament as the second favourites. Don’t be so sure. It goes without saying they remain the best when on form, but that cancelled game might well be more of a hindrance to them than anyone, given that their last meaningful fixture will have been four weeks before their quarter‑final against Ireland. At least Italy would have been semi-meaningful....