Fiji v USA

15 Oct 2003

Brisbane: Lang Park

Referee: Joel Jutge (Fra).

Crowd: 30,990.

Fulltime: Fiji 19 def USA 18

Halftime: Fiji 3  USA 6

I decided  not to park at my mates place and abseil down K2 in order to get to the match, as getting down is fine but climbing back up is the bastard (especially after a few).  Instead we took the free public transport on offer and was surprised at how easy the stadium was to get to.

This time we had ‘A’ category seating so we were behind the try line.  I’m sorry but work this one out for me.  If behind the tryline is ‘A’ class, where the hell is ‘D’ class? Outside with the big screen?  And I’m sure Jeff Miller (new QLD coach) wasn’t that impressed as he was in the same row I was.  No, I didn’t hound him with questions but I was bloody well tempted.

The game wasn’t sold out so it made for great access to the rum refuelling station!

Anyway on to the game.  You know I rocked in there thinking that Fiji were going to put 50 points on the Seppos but hell didn’t they totally outplay Fiji for the bulk of the match! 

The Fijians controlled the possession and territory but their inability to get properly organised; a belief that they had already won a match; and the physical encounter they had with France last Sat night (4 days ago) nearly cost them the match.   This fast turn around in matches is criminal for some of the teams.

When you watch Fiji you expect to see supporting player backing up and catching that hail mary over the back of the head and then between the legs pass before they plant the ball down under the black dot but not tonight.  I lost count of how many tries they bombed and their indiscipline cost them big time once the Septics finally made it into their half.

The American kicker took full advantage and got them out to a 6 nill lead before Nicky Little gave the due respect to the Americans by going for the penalty goal just before half time to make it a 6-3 break.

The American back three performed exceptionally well and cleaned up very successfully for most of the match, while their loosies played very well and kept the Fijian’s very honest at the break down.

The Septics scored 2 tries to 1 and their second was in the last minute and kept the crowd riveted to their seat.  If their kicker had nailed the shot it would have been the first big upset of the tournament.

I am now seriously rethinking about attending the Scotland, USA match as it could be very entertaining.  While if both Japan and USA play to their potential it could end up being one of the most entertaining pool matches.