FIJI READY
MELBOURNE: A fast and furious Fiji stands poised to derail Australia’s campaign for a third World Cup triumph unless Michael Cheika’s side can avoid its selfsabotaging tendency to cough up possession, according to former Wallabies coach Bob Dwyer.
A loss to the Flying Fijians in the Sapporo opener tonight may not be terminal for Australia’s hopes of reaching the knockout rounds but it would place it under huge pressure to beat Six Nations champion Wales in its second pool D game.
Under New Zealand coach John McKee, Fiji enters the World Cup the pick of the Pacific island nations and confident of producing an early boilover as it looks to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2007.
Australia has blown hot and cold in the leadup to the cup, thrashing the All Blacks 4726 in Perth before suffering a humiliating 360 defeat away to the world champion two weeks later.
Dwyer said it was the Wallabies’ latter performance at Eden Park, where they failed to hold on to the ball long enough to build pressure and were punished mercilessly for their mistakes, that concerned him.
‘‘Fiji is not going to be easy, by any stretch of the imagination,’’ Dwyer, who guided Australia to its maiden World Cup triumph in 1991, said.
‘‘We dropped that much ball in the last game against New Zealand. Against Fiji, if we drop that much ball, they will hurt us.
‘‘Security of possession is tantamount. If you drop the ball, throw long passes, and passes behind a player which we’ve been guilty of, then you’re in trouble. I mean, they can score a try in the blink of an eye.’’
Cheika has retained most of the starting side that beat New Zealand in Perth for the Fiji clash, but restored David Pocock into the loose forwards alongside captain Michael Hooper, a reprise of the ‘‘Pooper’’ combination that proved instrumental in the team’s run to the final of the 2015 World Cup in England.
With Isi Naisarani on the blindside, the relatively short back row may be a ‘‘little bit of a risk’’ for the Wallabies’ lineout but not an unmanageable one, Dwyer said.
‘‘Hooper can win some lineout ball. He’s very agile and very quick off the ground.’’ the 78yearold added.
Dwyer, overall, gave a cautious endorsement of a Wallabies
❛ Against Fiji, if we drop that much ball,
they will hurt us Former Wallabies coach
Bob Dwyer
squad strong enough to leave experienced World Cup campaigners such as Bernard Foley and Adam AshleyCooper out of the matchday team against Fiji altogether.
However, he saw vulnerability in the back three of fullback Kurtley Beale and wingers Reece Hodge and Marika Koroibete.
Although a very good player, Hodge lacked ‘‘acceleration’’ for a winger, while Beale was not the same safe pair of hands under the high ball that former fullback Israel Folau was before his sacking in May, Dwyer said..
McKee said his side needed to have a firm focus on the basics of the game as well as playing with the flair the Fijians were renowned for.
‘‘For us it’s about finding the balance to playing test match rugby.’’
Fiji has long been a power in sevens, winning gold in the inaugural Olympic tournament in Brazil in 2016.
But few coaches have been able to translate that success to the more structured 15man version of the game.
McKee quickly recognised when he took over as coach in 2014 that his team was being heavily penalised in the set piece against higherranked sides. ‘‘Not being able to win that source of ball doesn’t give the team any confidence,’’ McKee, who brought in fellow New Zealander Alan Muir as a specialist scrum coach, said.
‘‘We have had a lot of focus in that area . . . because [when] we can get good field position and win quick ball then we know we have got the players with the attacking talent to match anyone.’’