The Fiji Times

Rugby-United States game important ahead of Wales clash, says All Blacks Foster

(Reuters) – New Zealand coach Ian Foster claimed the All Blacks learned valuable lessons ahead of more testing challenges on the European leg of their current tour after handing the United States a 104-14 thrashing in Washington on Saturday. Foster’s team scored 16 tries while conceding twice in a one-sided clash that saw the All...

Rugby-Cooper set for Wallabies tour but injury raises Hodge doubts

(Reuters) – Australia flyhalf Quade Cooper will travel to Europe for the Wallabies’ tests against Scotland, England and Wales next month but Reece Hodge’s availability is in doubt after he sustained a pectoral injury in Saturday’s 32-23 win over Japan. Coach Dave Rennie confirmed Cooper would be part of the squad following uncertaintly over the...

Rugby-New Zealand rout United States 104-14 in Washington test match

(Reuters) -New Zealand got back to winning ways as they romped to a record 104-14 victory over the United States in Washington on Saturday in a lopsided test match in which the Eagles at least secured their first-ever try against the All Blacks. New Zealand, who had not played in the U.S. since 2016, totally...

Fijiana prepares for Rugby World Cup

The Fijiana 15s extended squad continued its preparations for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand next year with a stint at mud pools at the Naval Base in Togalevu, outside Lami on Thursday. The Fiji Rugby Union website said coach Senirusi Seruvakula took the girls to mud pools to test their fitness and...

Gareth Baber leaves a mark and an impression

Olympic Sevens gold-winning hero and our head coach Gareth Baber is to join Edinburgh as skills and assistant attack coach. The 49-year-old Welshman will move to Scotland in December, having been in his role as Fiji 7s head coach since January 2017. The former Cardiff Blues coach had a spectacular spell with Fiji, guiding our national 7s...

Vuate Karawalevu joins Roosters for pre-season training

Kaiviti Silktails outside back Vuate Karawalevu is making the next step in his Rugby League journey by signing a contract with the Sydney Roosters that will take him one step closer to a NRL career. The Silktails’ ‘Rising Star’ winner for the 2021 season returns to Sydney this weekend to begin two weeks quarantine before...

Super Sevens Series to assist national team training

The fourth and final leg of the 2021 Fiji Rugby Union Super Sevens Series will set a platform for the national 7s team ahead of the 2021-2022 World Rugby Series opening leg in Dubai and South Africa in December. FRU chief executive officer John O’Connor said players who were part of the Fiji men’s extended...

Joseph relies on front three

TOKYO – Japan coach Jamie Joseph named two Australian-born locks and handed Brisbane-educated loose forward Ben Gunter his Test debut in the side to face the Wallabies in Oita. The versatile Jack Cornelsen, the son of Wallaby Greg, will team up with James Moore in the second row in place of injured Wimpie Van Der...

Australia wary of host

The Wallabies return to the site of their humiliating exit from the last World Cup on Saturday to take on a Japan side eager to prove their own rousing 2019 campaign was no fluke. Australia’s 40-16 quarter-final loss to England at Oita Stadium brought an end to a chaotic campaign and turned out to be...

Paisami returns to Wallabies

Hunter Paisami has been recalled for Australia’s test against Japan, replacing Samu Kerevi at inside centre after the explosive midfielder failed to overcome an ankle injury for Saturday’s clash in Oita. Tom Wright has replaced Jordan Petaia on the wing after a lively cameo off the bench in the 32-17 win over Argentina on the...

Rugby-England launches bid to host 2025 women’s World Cup

(Reuters) – England will bid to host the women’s rugby World Cup in 2025, the country’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) said on Friday. England’s ‘Red Roses’, the world’s top-ranked women’s team, have twice won the World Cup — in 1994 and 2014. They finished runners-up at the last edition in 2017 after losing to New...

All Blacks captain Sam Whitelock back in starting team, Josh Lord on bench

WASHINGTON,22 OCTOBER 2021 (STUFF NZ) – Captain Sam Whitelock has been thrust into the All Blacks starting team, and the uncapped Josh Lord has been named on the bench for the test against the United States on Sunday morning. Whitelock, who hasn’t played a test since the 59-22 win over the Wallabies in Auckland on...

Fiji 7s in hot seat – Fuli says team will be targeted

Interim Fiji 7s coach Saiasi Fuli believes heading to the first leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series has the Olympic gold medal champions in the cross-hairs, with overseas opponents “no doubt eager to exploit a very young and uninitiated team early on”. “Yes, it always brings a tough challenge,” Fuli said during a training...

Forces to battle – Date for Sukuna Bowl challenge confirmed

The organising chairman of the Sukuna Bowl contest has confirmed a right date had been selected for the prestigious event to be held later in the year. Senior Superintendent of Police Livai Driu said it was vital to choose a right date in order for a successful tourney. “We needed enough time to ensure the...

Peters make impact return

Former Flying Fijians tall timber Langi Peters is making an impact in his return to rugby contract in France. The 6fh6″ lock, who rejoined his St Sulpice La Pointe Rugby Club in Federal 2 division in France last month, has been a wonder to his teammates since his return. “I am delighted to be back...

Flying Fijians head coach in constant talks with Baber

The Fiji Airways Flying Fijians head coach Vern Cotter said there had been close collaboration between the southern hemisphere coaches with their counterparts in the northern hemisphere ahead of the three Tests in November. Cotter said despite the quarantine concerns which had forced him and his Kiwi staff out of the Flying Fijians November Europe...

Young guns show form

Police 7s playmaker and veteran, Livai Ikanikoda is impressed with the amount of talent in the Fiji 7s extended squad saying the inclusion of a lot of young players has challenged the more senior players to bring their ‘A’ game. “It is a challenge for the older players, and we all have to play our...

Fiji Rugby Union confirms final leg of the Super Sevens Series

SUVA, 22 OCTOBER 2021 (FRU) – The Fiji Rugby Union {FRU} has confirmed hosting the fourth and final leg of the Super Sevens Series on the 12th and 13th of November at ANZ Stadium in Suva. FRU Chief Executive John O’Connor said the Super Sevens Series had served its purpose at the start of the...

Touch rugby focused on return to field

With a number of sports returning to normalcy, Touch Fiji Federation president Tevita Mau said management was working around the clock to get the sport ready for a return to the pitch. “As per the protocols stipulated, Touch Rugby like all other sporting communities are diligently working behind the scene to ensure that we comply...

Son of Aussie who caused All Blacks angst picked for Japan

Japan coach Jamie Joseph is hoping Australian-born trio Jack Cornelsen, Ben Gunter and Dylan Riley play like they have a point to prove in their test debuts against the Wallabies in Oita on Saturday. The son of Greg Cornelsen – who famously bagged four Wallabies tries against the All Blacks at Eden Park in 1978...

USA Rugby is dreaming big and it starts with All Blacks clash

American rugby proponents look to the past when they consider their future, and inevitably, their gaze turns to 1994. The United States that summer hosted the men’s football World Cup, an event that helped launch Major League Soccer, led to the construction of soccer-specific stadiums around the country and exposed the sport to millions of...

Sam Whitelock back as ABs captain, Josh Lord to debut

Captain Sam Whitelock has been thrust into the All Blacks starting team, and the uncapped Josh Lord has been named on the bench for the test against the United States on Sunday morning. Whitelock, who hasn’t played a test since the 59-22 win over the Wallabies in Auckland on August 14, will start alongside Tupou...

Rugby transition – 7s Olympians promoted to Flying Fijians Northern Tour

Four Olympic Games gold medalists are expected to make their debut for the Flying Fijians on the Northern Hemisphere Tour next month. They include Jiuta Wainiqolo, Vilimoni Botitu, Aminiasi Tuimaba and Masivesi Dakuwaqa. Wainiqolo, Botitu and Tuimaba won the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games while Dakuwaqa was part of the squad that...

Travel plans change for Drua

The Fijian Drua team has pushed its travel dates to Australia to November in a bid to avoid the mandatory quarantine period. The team was initially supposed to fly out to Sydney on Saturday spending two weeks in hotel quarantine before marching to its base camp for the start of its preparation phase for the...

Coach Baber eager to deliver in 15s

The Fiji Rugby Union is confident that Gareth Baber will mix in well with the Flying Fijian squad for the three matches on the Northern Hemisphere Tour next month. Baber has been roped in to hold the Flying Fijians as head coach following the FRU’s decision to prevent the Southern Hemisphere coaching staff and players...

7s plan: New Fiji coach to be announced next month

The Fiji Rugby Union is expected to name the new Fiji 7s head coach to replace Gareth Baber by the end of next month. Baber, who guided Fiji to gold medal victory at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, has parted ways with Fiji Rugby to further his career in 15s rugby. He has taken up...

All Blacks Sevens forward Sam Dickson to debut for Canterbury on Friday

All Blacks sevens veteran Sam Dickson is over the injury which scratched him from the Olympics and will front for Canterbury in Dunedin on Friday night. The 31-year-old Christchurch-born forward strained his hamstring in the lead-up to the Tokyo Games in July, denying him the chance to add to his 258 games and 89 tries....

USA launches campaign to host future Rugby World Cup events

The United States has officially launched its campaign to host an upcoming men’s and women’s Rugby World Cup as part of an effort to expand North American interest and participation in the sport for generations to come. The United States, which was approved as a bid candidate in June, is looking to host the men’s...

Australia searching for new Sevens coaches

Australia has started a recruitment process for head coaches of its national men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams after both programmes flopped at the Tokyo Olympics. The Australian women, coached by John Manenti, were eliminated in the quarter-finals of their gold medal defence in Tokyo. Under Tim Walsh, the men also fell in the last...

Rugby

Fijiana have team bonding in mud pool