Flying Fijians defeated at home

Vodafone Flying Fijians were shocked as Australia A put up an impressive show in front of the jam-packed crowd and defeated the hosts 32-18 in the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup match at Churchill Park Lautoka.

The game started on a high note and fly-half Teti Tela got the first points off his boots after slotting in a penalty kick.

Australia A then mounted the pressure and managed to get their first try in the 12^th minute, a try through Hugh Sinclair.

The crowd went crazy when Flying Fijians center Seta Tamanivalu scored their first try to narrow the score to 8-10.

It was a tit-for-tat match as Ben Donaldson of Australia A scored in the 27^th minute and 6 minutes later Levani Botia dived in to close the score 15-13.

Australia A proved stronger in the last 40 as Filipe Daugunu dived in for a try in the 46^th minute.

Fiji narrowed the score line with a try from Apisalome Ratuniyarawa before Australia A pilled points and secured a bonus-point win over the Vodafone Flying Fijians.

Vodafone Flying Fijians Coach Vern Cotter said it was a disappointing performance and the team needs to work on a lot of things ahead of the final PNC match against Samoa next Saturday.

“We were not at our best on the day, the performance from the beginning was not what we expected and then it went worse.
We will have to review our performance and then work on the areas and get it right next week before we play Samoa” said Cotter.

Meanwhile, in the final round Australia A takes on Tonga and the Vodafone Flying Fijians meet Samoa.