The high-flying Fijians against the free-wheeling Wallabies: it’s a volatile combination. It may be the most important game of Eddie Jones’s second tenure as Wallabies coach, but for seven Wallabies, this contest with Fiji has far greater significance than a potential date with Argentina or England in the next round.
“It’s always going to be special as Fiji holds a special place in our heart,” said Samu Kerevi, who, alongside Marika Koroibete, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Rob Valetini, Suliasi Vunivalu, Langi Gleeson and Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, has roots on the archipelago nearly 5,000km away from the country they now proudly represent.
Kerevi, like Vunivalu and Koroibete, was born in Fiji but stressed there would be no mixed allegiances once the anthems start ringing out around the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne on Sunday. “Once you put on the jersey, we’re Australians,” he said.
But that sentiment might not be shared by the players’ families back home. Gleeson, the colossal back-rower who was raised in northern Sydney and began his oval-balled journey as a rugby league winger, admitted his relatives might be cheering for the opposition this weekend.
“My family backs them,” the 22-year-old said. “I don’t know who they’re going to support. It’s probably my second team. Most of their players play in the [Fijian] Drua and [Pacific Nations Cup]. They’re a really good team. I’d always watch the sevens. My family are big Fijian rugby supporters. It means everything for my family. Growing up, I always wanted to be a Wallaby. I didn’t think I’d get there. It’s all been a blur, this year and last year.”
Nawaqanitawase, one of the breakthrough players in the world over the past year, had different ambitions growing up. His Fijian father, Sevuloni Nawaqanitawase, moved to Sydney in 1991 to play rugby league for the Balmain Tigers. Nawaqanitawase junior initially followed in his father’s footsteps and participated in the 13-man code until he was 14 when he was encouraged to make the switch at St Patrick’s college in Strathfield.
“I’d like to think most [of my family] are getting around me this week,” said Nawaqanitawase, who scored a try in Australia’s 35-15 win over Georgia in the opening round. “I’ve been growing up watching [Fiji] since I was a kid. There’s a few players in there that I look up to but it’ll be a pretty special moment for myself and my family. For a split second, I was thinking about going down that path. I’m grateful for how things have turned out.”
Fiji themselves have links with Australia. Their head coach, Simon Raiwalui, worked under Michael Cheika as the Wallabies’ forwards coach. Isoa Nasilasila, one of their key figures in the second row, was born in Campbelltown, Sydney and attended Westfields Sports high school. He is one of 17 Fijians who play for the Drua in Super Rugby, which is also the home league for 19 Wallabies.
Australia’s captain, Will Skelton, has won back-to-back European Champions Cups alongside Fiji’s rampaging flanker Levani Botia at La Rochelle. Richie Arnold is a regular opponent against nine Fijians in the French Top 14 and shares a Toulouse dressing room with two islanders not in the squad.
That doesn’t mean there’ll be any love lost come Sunday. Vunivalu suggested those in gold with Fijian heritage will effectively be running around with targets on their back. “I was actually speaking to Marika about this, about their last World Cup and what they were saying, were they trying to aim at them Fijian on Fijian, and he was saying that they were mentioning stuff to Samu, like ‘belt him, belt him’ in Fijian,” Vunivalu said.
Still, there’s plenty of mutual respect. Nawaqanitawase gushed at the more than 1,000 metres the Fijians made with ball in hand against Wales in their agonising 32-26 defeat. “They can do anything out of nothing,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re connected and ready for it.”
Though the two countries rarely square up against each other – this is their first meeting since the last World Cup four years ago which ended in a 39-21 win for the Wallabies – they’ve never been closer. Both sides espouse the same frenetic ethos, one that champions running rugby rich in counterattacks from deep, lung busting gallops down the trams, and brutal collisions as meat meets bone at pace.
