Time was when the Flying Fijians would have been seen as the autumnal soft touch, good for some entertaining rugby no doubt, capable of outrageous footwork and offloading, but lacking the set-piece platform or fitness levels to sustain 80-minute displays. Not any more they aren’t.
Previously, despite having eight or 10 outstandingly talented players, they very often could not secure release from their French or English clubs. Besides, the rest of the squad were usually drawn from the Fijian domestic league and no matter how talented the players, that was no preparation for Test match rugby against fully professional international teams.
It’s often said that the United Rugby Championship has benefited from the arrival of the four South African franchises at the expense of Super Rugby, and so, by extension, New Zealand and Australian rugby has suffered.
But another beneficiary has been Fiji. The Fijian Rugby Union had created a professional organisation called the Fijian Drua which competed in the Australian National Rugby Championship from 2017 to 2019.
Then, on foot of the South African sides jumping ship while the Argentinian Jaguares and Japanese side the Sunwolves were cast adrift, the Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika were brought aboard by the New Zealand and Australian Unions.
With additional funding from World Rugby and a cut of the TV money from the Super Rugby Pacific season, this has been a game-changer for rugby in the Pacific Islands and especially Fiji.
Now their generous sprinkling of European-based stars are supplemented by fully professional, domestic players. In their Super Rugby Pacific 2022 debut campaign, the Fijian Drua won two and lost a dozen of their 14 matches to finish second last in 11th place. But in 2023 and again in 2024, they won six of 14 matches to reach the play-offs each season.
The Flying Fijians have always been capable of upsetting the odds and bigger, wealthier opponents, with wins over Australia, Italy (four times), Argentina, Scotland and Wales, before toppling France in Stade de France in 2018.
But the impact of drawing from an entirely professional squad could be seen in the World Cup last year. Fiji came within one pass of beating Wales in a thriller in Bordeaux, stunned Australia 22-15 in Saint-Etienne before admittedly scraping past Georgia by 17-12. They somehow contrived to lose to Portugal before then stretching England to the limits in a 30-24 quarter-final defeat. That was a wild ride.
Since then, Fiji lost 47-5 to New Zealand but even without their overseas-based stars they won the Pacific Nations Cup with commanding wins over Samoa, Tonga, USA and Japan, before pitching up on their end-of-year tour against Scotland a fortnight ago, Wales last week, Spain in Valladolid today and Ireland next Saturday in the Aviva Stadium.
Mick Byrne, the Fijian Drua head coach who has been Fiji’s head coach since the start of the year, was able to call up 21 of their World Cup squad for this tour, including eight players based in the Top 14 and four more in the Premiership.
However, Fiji’s first game of their tour fell outside the start of the November Test window, meaning they were without all bar one of their France- and England-based players for their 57-17 loss to Scotland in Murrayfield.
But a week later, Fiji were replenished by the return of their main men, Back came the Saracens loose-head Eroni Mawi (who started every game in the World Cup), the Northampton Saints’ lock Temo Mayanavanua, the Gloucester centre Josua Tuisova (whom Sam Warburton reckons is the most dangerous player one-on-one in world rugby), the Lyons winger Semi Radrada, Toulon winger Jiuta Wainiqolo and the brilliant outside centre Waisale Nayacalevu, now with Sale Sharks after 10 seasons with Stade Francais, another two with Toulon, a co-captain and, it seems, something of a spiritual leader.
Admittedly Wales looked set to move 14-3 ahead inside 14 minutes but a second try was overruled for an illegal clear-out by Tommy Reffell which earned him a yellow card. But Fiji then incurred a penalty try and a yellow card for backrower Elia Canakaivata, and within two minutes Redrada was red carded for a high hit on Welsh fullback Cameron Winnett.
And in times past that might have been that, but under the newly trialled ‘20-minute red card’ Redrada was replaced for the second half. Then again, even at 13 v 14, the Fijian outhalf Caleb Muntz sidestepped back against the grain and through the Welsh defence for a try which he converted. This merely underlined what Fiji were missing when Muntz sustained a knee injury and was ruled out of the World Cup on the eve of the tournament.
Back to 15-a-side, Muntz edged Fiji in front with a couple of penalties in the third quarter before they struck tellingly on the hour. A sweeping 8-15 switchback off a solid scrum released Nayacalevu on the left wing for a run and offload inside to Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula.
A couple of phases later, Tuisove bounced Ben Thomas and took the tackle of Blair Murray to score. Despite a try by Ellis Bevan, another Muntz penalty sealed a deserved Fijian win, their first over Wales in Cardiff, by 24-19.
Ireland have won all seven previous meetings with Fiji, whether granted official Test status by the IRFU or not, but there’s been some narrow escapes along the way.
Back in 1985 an Irish team which were reigning championship winners were indebted to a late penalty by Michael Kiernan for a 16-15 win, and they were left with several scars from both a 23-20 victory in 2017 and a 35-17 win two years ago.
This is probably a more complete Fijian team than all of those former sides.
