Focus on set pieces

Non-negotiables in the game of rugby

FLYING Fijians coach Vern Cotter believes there are non-negotiables in the modern rugby game for the best teams in the world.

As a result the Flying Fijians coaching staff members have been working on the fundamentals of the game with the team focussing on the set piece play like the scrums, line-outs and discipline especially in the rucks and mauls to be able to compete at the highest level.

The Flying Fijians take on the All Blacks in the second Test in Hamilton tomorrow with a lot of positives from the first fixture last week in Dunedin despite going down 23-57.

The side competed well against the number two ranked rugby nation in the world only succumbing to the Kiwis in the last 16 minutes conceding 26 points.

Cotter said rather than scrambling for possession and feeding off scraps, they needed to dominate certain parts of the game so that they can play on their terms.

He said they needed to have that in their Fijian brand of rugby.

“The best teams need to be at the highest level so you have to be good at scrum and line out which is the set piece play,” Cotter said.

“We need to get the line breaks and we need to get over the advantage line.

“With the quality of the Fijian players we have, we need to get them in the right and favourable condition so they can exploit the opposition.

“This is part of our strategy and it is about playing our rugby. To do that, we have to be solid in those set pieces so there are non-negotiables in the modern game.” A sell-out crowd is expected to witness the second fixture which will kick off at 7.05pm. The match will be shown live on FBC TV, FBC Sports and Sky Pacific.