Fiji avoids mega shock, rallies to beat Georgia at the Rugby World Cup
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BORDEAUX, France (AP) — Fiji just avoided the kind of mega shock it is more used to dishing out at the Rugby World Cup.
The Flying Fijians were constrained by a fully committed outsider in Georgia for 50 minutes before coming back from 9-0 down to win 17-12 in their Pool C game on Saturday.
The fighting victory put Fiji on the cusp of making the quarterfinals for the first time since 2007, but not quite there yet and the deal will have to be sealed in a final pool game against another underdog in Portugal.
“If I am being honest, we were beaten to the punch in the first half,” Fiji coach Simon Raiwalui said. "We knew it was going to be a battle. I am just thankful we have the result.”
Captain Waisea Nayacalevu began the Fijian fightback with a 51st-minute try deftly finished with inches to spare in the left corner as he dotted down off his feet and almost behind his back before he was tackled into touch. Replacement Vinaya Habosi finally subdued the Georgians when he ran onto an offload from tireless flanker Levani Botia with 12 minutes to go to make it 17-9 with the conversion.
Yet Georgia still had enough in the tank to kick a very late penalty and chase what would have been a scintillating victory right at the death, when replacement Gela Aprasidze's breakout and kick ahead was desperately snuffed out by Fiji fullback Ilaisa Droasese. Droasese chased back, scrappily hoofed the ball over the dead ball line and collapsed in exhaustion, as did pretty much everyone else on the field.
It was a full-blooded and at times chaotic match that the fans in Bordeaux lapped up. It was also played in a brilliant World Cup spirit, and Fijians and Georgians pulled each other up, shook hands and fell into tired hugs at the end.
“I am proud of the team," Georgia captain Mikheil Nariashvili said. "Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to win this game. Congratulations to Fiji, it was a good game.”
The result was still a surprise of sorts with Fiji — having beaten Australia two weeks ago to be in the midst of possibly its best form ever — expected to fly through with a winning bonus point to make the last eight.
That didn't happen and the win with no bonus point means Fiji has to wait until next weekend to confirm its place in the knockout stage. It needs anything against Portugal, even a losing bonus point, to make the quarters.
Two-time champion Australia's very slim chances are alive again after the result, but hinge on beating Portugal with a bonus point on Sunday, and then Portugal denying Fiji in the final set of pool games.
Georgia's early lead in Bordeaux came from three first-half penalties, one from flyhalf Luka Matkava and two long-range shots by winger Davit Niniashvili.
Despite losing hooker Tengizi Zamtaradze and lock Lasha Jaiani very early to injury to upset its set-piece, the Georgians were heroic in defense in the face of waves of Fijian attacks at points. They fought right to the end for what would have been their most famous victory at a World Cup.
Georgia also had a try ruled out late in the first half, when right wing Akaki Tabutsadze's score was chalked off for a forward pass to him, which looked like a harsh call from referee Karl Dickson of England.
Nayacalevu's momentum-changing try — while Fiji was down to 14 men with wing Semi Radradra in the sin-bin — saw the persistent Fijians finally start to get reward for their adventure having thrown a lot of loose passes and dropped a lot of balls in the first half.
“I am proud of the boys," Nayacalevu said. "What a team effort today. We didn’t slack off, we kept fighting. I told the boys we have to keep fighting. For the record, we want to be a history-making team and that is our goal. We will take it step by step.”
Habosi made it safe when a ball was shovelled down the Fijian backline, with one pass through the legs, before Botia burst through to carry deep into the Georgia 22. He flicked the ball up as four Georgians tackled him and Habosi was on his shoulder and away to score with a flying dive.
“One thing about us Fijians,” Botia said, “is we like to keep the ball alive.”
Fiji finished with 14 men after center Josua Tuisova was shown a yellow card for a head-on-head clash attempting to tackle Georgia fullback Miriani Modebadze in the final moments.
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