England vs Fiji, RWC 2015.

Losty Dublin

England vs Fiji; Pool 1 Game 1. Twickenham. KO 8PM BST. Live TV on TV3, UTV, STV and ITV 1. Live radio on BBC Radio 5. Live ROI stream on www.tv3.ie Please be warned that geo locking may be in place

Well, the time has almost come upon up. The chariot's wheels are oiled, the swing low mechanism serviced, it's seat padded. England 2015 has carried home once more and it kicks off at 8PM when the hosts play Fiji at HQ.

So the plan goes, at least. For the RFU this game represents the opening match in our game's biggest international championship, the Rugby World Cup. All 48 games, 20 teams, 15 players, 13 stadia, 12 referees but just one William Webb Ellis trophy. We could talk for hours about the logistics, the training camps, the hotels, the airlines, the official beer, logistic partners, blazer led committees and so on but, nah, that's what not what us fans want.

For the first 80 minutes of RWC and indeed every game, all teams will care about are the 4 points for the win, the bonus point being an added extra. So let's concentrate on just that and leave the business talk to the blazer led committees.

The Teams



England Replacements: 16-Rob Webber, 17-Mako Vunipola, 18-Kieran Brookes, 19-Joe Launchbury, 20-Billy Vunipola, 21-Richard Wigglesworth, 22-Owen Farrell, 23-Sam Burgess.

Fiji Replacements: 16-Tuapati Talemaitoga, 17-Peni Ravai, 18- Isei Colati, 19-Tevita Cavubati, 20-Peceli Yato, 21-Nemia Kenatale, 22-Joshua Matavesi, 23-Aseli Tikoirotuma.

The Hosts

England could not have asked for a better start to RWC 2015, given the make up of the group. Avoidance of their two big threats and the weak link of Uruguay yet a game that they are 1/25 chances to win. A healthy team and a good warm up season has left Stuart Lancaster with plenty of positives and relatively few negatives all told; indeed the starting 15 is that which beat Ireland recently. The return of Ben Morgan (below) is a massive plus for them but truth be known England barely miss him such is the depth of their available players.

The Visitors.

Last time they played England, Fijian rugby made the news for the wrong reasons after issues with Samoa's squad payment went viral and led to scrutiny of their own set up as well as some insipid performances. Squad moral is a lot higher this time round and, with their game on a fairly sound financial footing, they will be better for getting over these things. A solid summer has seem them retain the Pacific 6 Nations Trophy while their warm up game versus Canada saw a handsome 47-18 win. Most of their squad ply their trade in England and France so part timers they ain't. One exception to this is their winger Nemani Nadolo who plays for Crusaders and in Japan (below); think of Jonah Lomu with a hell of a skill set.

Surely, Fiji have some chance?

In all honesty, they have very little chance. England are far too strong a team to be beaten by them and, whilst conservative and safe, they are experts at squeezing the life out of teams. To give them their due, Fiji have had a strong Pacific championship and while they are no class outfit, a near defeat of Wales last November shows that they can perform on the big stage, not to mention their defeat of Wales in 2007. Energy levels and discipline will go against them but they'll certainly give it a go with ball in hand and trademark bone piercing tackles and they will win the respect of the fans. The only weakness that they can exploit is if they can rattle England's half backs with monster tackles and hope that the full back line have left some of the excess chariot axle grease on their paws.

My verdict? England to win 40-20, a welcome bonus point and a spine tingling Bole and a prayer at full time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M37JdJX9P_k

rrpc

Fiji have been dealing with their discipline issues by engaging none other than Alain Rolland to advise them. He's already done a good bit of work with them and is continuing on through the RWC.

Zzippy

Great preview Losty, setting the bar high from the start!

kuang1

Good stuff LD.
Think you might be bang on with the scoreline too.

Never to wish for anybody to be injured, but if England come out of this with a bonus point victory, and no injuries, then it's a fantastic start for them.
Alas for England; a fresh Fiji team is well capable of hurting anyone. (I mean physically and fairly...but possibly not on the scoreboard)

b.gud

I can't see how Nadolo is going to do anything other than swat Watson out of his way like a fly

Ceadog

Fiji to score a jammy try in the last minute to beat England. England, totally demoralised after embarrassing themselves in front of a home crowd, proceed to lose to Wales and Australia and end up having to qualify for the next RWC.

You heard it here first.

Zzippy

Ceadog wrote: »

Fiji to score a jammy try in the last minute to beat England. England, totally demoralised after embarrassing themselves in front of a home crowd, proceed to lose to Wales and Australia and end up having to qualify for the next RWC.

You heard it here first.

Care to put your money where your mouth is?

petebricquette

b.gud wrote: »

I can't see how Nadolo is going to do anything other than swat Watson out of his way like a fly

Great video, brutal song.

Ceadog

Zzippy wrote: »

Care to put your money where your mouth is?

Not a ****ing chance :P

Stheno

b.gud wrote: »

I can't see how Nadolo is going to do anything other than swat Watson out of his way like a fly

How much does he weigh?

b.gud

petebricquette wrote: »

Great video, brutal song.

Sounds like I dodged a bullet by watching it on mute

rrpc

Stheno wrote: »

How much does he weigh?

105kg. 27 years old. Going to be a handful for any side he comes up against.

b.gud

Stheno wrote: »

How much does he weigh?

According to Wikipedia 126 kg (19 st 12 lb)

Ceadog

Stheno wrote: »

How much does he weigh?

Google says 130kg and 6"5. Brutal.

My favourite part of that video is when Nonu tries to shoulder charge him when they're both running back for a kick. Bounce right off him and Nadolo jumps onto the ball as if he didn't even notice Nonu. The look on Nonu's face is priceless

Stheno

b.gud wrote: »

According to Wikipedia 126 kg (19 st 12 lb)

Grief!

case885

Stheno wrote:

How much does he weigh?

126,000,000 milligrams according to wiki, give or take a few mgs.

conf101

b.gud wrote: »

I can't see how Nadolo is going to do anything other than swat Watson out of his way like a fly

That crossfield catch - phwoar! If that were an Irish winger we'd be talking about it for the next 30 years

Edit: It's at 28 seconds

Ceadog

Hope he runs straight through Burgess to score the matchwinning try and the English press never mention Burgess again and he goes back to League in a sulk.

Yeah_Right

Nadolo should grow a little tuft fringe for this match just to give the English nightmare flashbacks of giant 11s smashing them at World Cups.

molloyjh

b.gud wrote: »

I can't see how Nadolo is going to do anything other than swat Watson out of his way like a fly

Yeah he's big, but those off loads!? Class.

thomond2006

Nakarawa and Matawalu starting, tonight is not be missed folks. I hope Nakarawa performs to show a wider audience what a phenomenal player he is.

captbarnacles

Please please please may England be overconfident and take Fiji on in a game of running rugby. That would be spectacular.

.ak

Great write up, but doesn't Nadolo still play for 'saders, not the reds?

rrpc

captbarnacles wrote: »

Please please please may England be overconfident and take Fiji on in a game of running rugby. That would be spectacular.

Lancaster's no fool. They'll try and keep it tight and pressure the Fijians into giving up soft penalties and build a score. Very unlikely to be throwing the ball about.

LuckyLloyd

Ceadog wrote: »

Fiji to score a jammy try in the last minute to beat England. England, totally demoralised after embarrassing themselves in front of a home crowd, proceed to lose to Wales and Australia and end up having to qualify for the next RWC.

You heard it here first.

One can but dream.

Losty Dublin

.ak wrote: »

Great write up, but doesn't Nadolo still play for 'saders, not the reds?

Edited. I get my South and West Islands mixed up all the time, ya see.

.ak

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Edited. I get my South and West Islands mixed up all the time, ya see.

Yeah it's a pretty small part of the world anyway. Very easy to confuse the two.

Pudsy33

I said this in the betting thread, but worth repeating here. My recollection from the last world cup was that the smaller teams tended managed to keep the scorelines relatively respectable for the first few rounds of matches. The bookies have England as 27 point favourites but I suspect there'll be only 14 or 15 between them at the end. Wouldn't surprise me to see Fiji take the lead early doors.

duckysauce

thomond2006 wrote: »

Nakarawa and Matawalu starting, tonight is not be missed folks. I hope Nakarawa performs to show a wider audience what a phenomenal player he is.

Yep two class players :cool: hope they wreak havoc.

This thread is featured at the top of the Boards Weekly Digest email. Brace for impact :pac:

.ak

Deleted User wrote: »

This thread is featured at the top of the Boards Weekly Digest email. Brace for impact :pac:

On that note....

People are more than welcome to drop by and express their opinion even if they're not regular posters on this forum. So long as they adhere to the charter

No back seat modding please, I don't want to see anyone accusing anyone of being a troll, or a seagul or blow in or whatever. Everyone's opinion is worth the same IMO.

If you have an issue with a poster please use the report function.

shortys94

Will there be highlights of this anywhere tonight? Flying to Cardiff during game

Pudsy33

shortys94 wrote: »

Will there be highlights of this anywhere tonight? Flying to Cardiff during game

Itv are doing a highlight programme so I presume that's on

CatFromHue

I think Fiji are in with a chance here, they're defo not no hopers.

There squad is full of guys who play in France or England to a high level.

It's only their front row that is weak.

bilston

CatFromHue wrote: »

I think Fiji are in with a chance here, they're defo not no hopers.

There squad is full of guys who play in France or England to a high level.

It's only their front row that is weak.

England's set piece will be far too strong for them. However Nobolo will be a major threat and they have Nakawara and Matawalu who could be a handful as well. I'm looking forward to it, I think it could be a good game, but England will win by 15-20 IMO.

Neil3030

Article in the Telegraph claiming Nodolo eats 5 poached eggs for breakfast, 5 mackerals for lunch and a whole chicken for dinner.

Am I the only one surprised by how little this is? He must add in a load of rice/pasta/spuds etc....

seanin4711

b.gud wrote: »

I can't see how Nadolo is going to do anything other than swat Watson out of his way like a fly

i think connacht should sign him!

CatFromHue

Yeah the set piece will a worry for them.

Just looking at the 11-15's of each team and there's a good argument that Fiji have the better one.

The second and back rows look very interesting match ups too.

I know nothing of the Fijian 10 but he did play for Australia in the U20's world cup and has signed for the Crusaders, after not being able to get his game for the 'tah's, for next season.

Buer

seanin4711 wrote: »

i think connacht should sign him!

There's a name from the rugby forum graveyards.

Good to see you, seanin.

seanin4711

all the pressure on England to perform none on fiji!
that nodolo is a machine!
20/1 on PP for 1st try.
worth a punt

mfceiling

Jesus it's nearly here lads....the rugby world cup....it's nearly here!!

Ceadog

bilston wrote: »

England's set piece will be far too strong for them. However Nobolo will be a major threat and they have Nakawara and Matawalu who could be a handful as well. I'm looking forward to it, I think it could be a good game, but England will win by 15-20 IMO.

Not so sure about that, the English scrum has been fairly poor of late. Not saying Fiji will be destroying them or anything, but they've been doing a lot of scrum training and I wouldn't be surprised to see them hold their own for the first 60 minutes at least.

Losty Dublin

shortys94 wrote: »

Will there be highlights of this anywhere tonight? Flying to Cardiff during game

Should be on the TV3 player.

velo.2010

Looks like TV3 borrowed the BBC Match of the Day studio!

Larbre34

Its their new HD suite, its a bit of a chicken and egg, they won the coverage so had to hasten the HD

Losty Dublin

Neil3030 wrote: »

Article in the Telegraph claiming Nodolo eats 5 poached eggs for breakfast, 5 mackerals for lunch and a whole chicken for dinner.

Am I the only one surprised by how little this is? He must add in a load of rice/pasta/spuds etc....

After eating five eggs, five mackerel and a whole chicken I don't think anybody would dare give him any carbs of fibre for fear of the chance that he'd fart

Losty Dublin

Larbre34 wrote: »

Its their new HD suite, its a bit of a chicken and egg, they won the coverage so had to hasten the HD

The bizarre thing is that they've had a fully HD studio for some time now but until now no actual HD transmissions.

b.gud

seanin4711 wrote: »

20/1 on PP for 1st try.
worth a punt

Done, I'm blaming you if I lose my €1 (I know I'm a big spender)

Celly Smunt

England to beat Fiji and then the players off to have an orgy in a hotel which we won't hear the end of for the next ten years.

You heard it here first.

seanin4711

I used to like matt cooper on radio starting to bore me now!
as for him chatting about rugby,schtop!
ITV HD all the flippin way!

nehe milner skudder

I hope nadolo flattens a few englishmen at HQ this evening.