19 January, 2026, 4:42 pm Central - 30°C Rain

We are blessed with some God-given talent in the team - Raiwalui

We are blessed with some God-given talent in the team - Raiwalui

By Mosese Raqio
04/10/2023
Photo: PHIL WALTER/GETTY IMAGES

As the Fiji Water Flying Fijians gear up for their crucial match against Portugal in their final 2023 Rugby World Cup pool game, head coach Simon Raiwalui has spoken highly of the talent that the team has coming into this tournament.

While speaking in a podcast session hosted by The Rugby Pod, Raiwalui says the team has been blessed with some amazing God-given talent in terms of their physical attributes like their sizes and speed.

Raiwalui spoke about tighthead prop Luke Tagi’s quick tap play against Georgia that left the crowd in awe and also had people sharing on various social media platforms the snippet of his run.

He says he loved the way how Tagi was able to shift and move especially with a big man like that with his body movement and being able to take the contact like that and adds it was amazing to watch.

Raiwalui joked that he probably was the only Fijian player that was fast and ran on diesel back then.

Raiwalui says they are also starting to touch on other things like getting the ability to play the full 80 minutes of rugby and getting the base set as they go along in the tournament.

The Flying Fijians will take on Portugal at 7am next Monday in Toulouse.

Fiji will only need 1 point from this match to secure a place in the quarter finals.

In other games coming up this week, New Zealand will play Uruguay at 7am Friday while France face Italy at 7am Saturday. You can check out all the Rugby World Cup stories, interviews, photos, videos and schedules on our website, fijivillage.

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