Volavola, Tela hold the key
ur first five-eighths, Ben Volavola and Teti Tela will be the brain trusts when the
Flying Fijians face the New Zealand All Blacks, in the two Test matches.
The first Test gets underway on Saturday, July 10, at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin while the second Test is on July 17 at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton.
Volavola and Tela are key players that will create try scoring opportunities, manage our plays, organising our game plan and finding solutions on how we attack and defend against the All Blacks.
If we are to stand a chance of winning against the world’s number two side, both players will have to lift their game to another level. This is where they will have to make good decisions, have sharp field visions, good game management, great communication skills, organising our mobile forwards and setting our speedy backline in motion. Also another important component is their kicking game.
In terms of experience Volavola, is a utility player that can play at full-back as well. He has been around for a while. Volavola played in the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups and has 32 Test caps.
He also has Super Rugby experience starting with the Waratahs before moving over to the Crusaders and the Melbourne Rebels.
Today, he plays in France and has been signed up by Racing 92.
For Tela, this could be his Test debut for the Flying Fijians.
The former Queensland Reds player orchestrated the Flying Fijians 33-31 win over the Barbarians in Twickenham 2019.
Two years later, he was called up by Flying Fijians head Vern Cotter to face the All Blacks in what would be the highlight of his playing career.
In a nutshell Tela has the capability but lacks the experience and during this preparation phase in
New Zealand, he will learn a lot from Volavola.
If selected in Cotter’s line-up, he could well and truly rub shoulders with the likes of Richie Mo’unga and Jordie Barrett.
Both our No.10s are matured players as they have the ability to organise and manage their game against a very structured All Blacks outfit.
Kicking game
Volavola and Tela know how important this area of the game will be especially against a team that loves to play for territory.
As highlighted by former Flying Fijians captain, Mosese Rauluni, that one of the downfalls at the last World Cup in Japan, was a lack of a consistent goal kicker.
Tela showed that he has what it takes to be our answer to the likes of Handre Pollard of South Africa, Mo’unga of New Zealand, England’s Owen Farrell or Dan Biggar of Wales.
Gain territory
He scored 13 points in the win over the Barbarians from a try and four conversions.
That win was praised by TV commentator and England’s 2003 Rugby World Cup winning captain Martin Johnson saying it was new to see the Fijians winning through kicks.
Same can be said about Volavola who can step-up and kick for goal during pressure situations.
We often marvel at how the All Blacks control the pace of the game by kicking for territory and in a game would kick 60 percent of the time to gain possession in the opposition’s territory.
Now with the vast knowledge that our No.10s have we are ready to enjoy a well-controlled and well guided Flying Fijians against the All Blacks.