Hard hits and man on man defense will be the key for the Fiji 15s rugby team when they take on world champions South Africa on Saturday night.
This was evident in the Fiji training session yesterday which has been described as brutal as players fight for a place in the team to meet the Springboks.
Team manager Pio Bosco Tikoisuva said he addressed the players at training that they should place their “friendship coat” in the changing room and tackle strong and hard at training if they are to be included.
Talking of the opposition, there was a heavy South African media presence at yesterday’s training session led by legendary number eight Bobby Skinstad, who is now with Sky Sports.
Meanwhile, children of Porirua Primary School cheered on the Flying Fijians at their training session yesterday.
Among the crowd watching was former Fiji fullback Filipe Rayasi who played for Fiji from 1994-97, his last Test being against the All Blacks in 1997.
The former Japan-based player seems relatively impressed by the current crop of Flying Fijians.
Rayasi is also quietly confident the Flying Fijians will turn on the style this weekend against the World Champions.
In today’s Rugby World Cup matches: at 2:30pm, Samoa meets Namibia, at 5pm Tonga meets Canada and at 7:30pm Scotland takes on Georgia.
Fiji will take on South Africa at 6pm Saturday and you can catch the live commentary on our sister station Viti FM with the voice of rugby Malakai Veisamasama and expert comments from Ilivasi Tabua.
Story by: Selina Navuso
Flying Fijians go through brutal training session
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