{"id":1348,"date":"2023-10-15T23:33:15","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T20:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/1348\/england-defeat-fiji-in-rwc-quarter\/"},"modified":"2023-11-04T14:29:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-04T11:29:00","slug":"england-defeat-fiji-in-rwc-quarter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/?p=1348","title":{"rendered":"England defeat Fiji in RWC quarter final"},"content":{"rendered":"

England defeat Fiji in RWC quarter final\u060c<\/p>\n

\n

Fiji captain Waisea Nayacalevu has complained about unconscious refereeing bias following his team’s defeat to England in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Fiji outscored England by three tries to two, but were beaten 30-24 in Marseille after England captain Owen Farrell scored 20 points, including five penalties.<\/p>\n

Fiji saw winger Vinaya Habosi taken out in the first half for head-on contact with Marcus Smith, but Nayacalevu was more annoyed by the refereeing of Frenchman Mathieu Raynal.<\/p>\n

Watch every match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup live ad-free on Kayo Sports. Join Kayo now and start<\/a> streaming instantly ><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI’m very emotional right now, a lot has happened this week<\/a> and I’m just proud of the boys,\u201d said Nayacalevu, whose Fijian team had to deal with two family bereavements during the tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cA few calls were unsuccessful. We are just fighting, I just ask that we can make a fair decision when the team plays,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ruck was already formed and (England’s Maro) Itoje just came in and got the ball \u2013 three times in the game.\u201d <\/p>\n

Asked if he thought it showed there was an unconscious bias in the minds of referees that favored the bigger teams, like England, Nayacalevu was unequivocal.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely! You watched the match, you can answer that question,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kills the momentum of our game, of what we want to play, if you know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/amp-ima-video><\/p>\n

Wigan crowned Super League champions! | 01:06<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

– “We had chances to win<\/a>” –<\/b><\/p>\n

Fiji coach Simon Raiwalui, however, refused to blame Raynal and said his team had failed to take their chances.<\/p>\n

“The referees do a great job, it’s the most difficult position, we are isolated,” said Raiwalui, a former player and coach in France.<\/p>\n

“Of course there are things you take issue with, there are things you might not agree with, but first and foremost we had opportunities to score, we had opportunities to win the game.” <\/p>\n

And Raiwalui disagreed with his captain that referees were being influenced in favor of Tier 1 nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey do a wonderful job, they don\u2019t go out there and pick a team,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes there are mistakes, sometimes the rub of the green doesn’t suit you, but it’s important to support them and not isolate them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really appreciate everything they do.\u201d <\/p>\n

According to Raiwalui, Fiji let their discipline slip in the first half, where they trailed 21-10 before a stirring second-half fightback briefly brought them back level at 24-24.<\/p>\n

\u201cA defeat is a loss, it\u2019s disappointing. We didn\u2019t help ourselves in the first half,\u201d admitted Raiwalui.<\/p>\n

<\/amp-ima-video><\/p>\n

Ireland heartbroken by All Blacks | 01:05<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Farrell sends England to World Cup semi-finals<\/b><\/p>\n

Owen Farrell scored a late goal and a penalty to send England into the Rugby<\/a> World Cup semi-finals.<\/p>\n

First-half tries from centers Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant looked to have sent England on their way to a semi-final against hosts France or defending champions South Africa.<\/p>\n

But Fiji, who scored tries through Viliame Mata, Peni Ravai and Vilimoni Botitu, produced a stirring counter-attack in Marseille, although Farrell’s 20 points with the boot ultimately proved decisive.<\/p>\n

This deprived Fiji of the chance to make history and make the final four for the first time by falling in the quarter-finals for the third time.<\/p>\n

The opening game was fierce, with Fiji’s famous tacklers leading the way, winning a few early turnovers.<\/p>\n

But it was after England’s first turnover, claimed by Courtney Lawes, that Farrell managed to take a simple penalty under the posts.<\/p>\n

Farrell kicked England’s next penalty into the corner and while Fiji delayed the capture and initial drive, Tuilagi burst from the blind side to pass through two tacklers, twist and extend his arm above the line to score with one hand.<\/p>\n

A brilliant counter-ruck from Fiji resulted in a penalty for the Pacific Islanders, but Frank Lomani’s kick hit the post.<\/p>\n

Lomani didn’t miss his next chance, however, after an unarmed tackle from Tom Curry and England led 8-3 after the first quarter.<\/p>\n

The match appeared to have taken a decisive turn in the 24th minute as England pushed forward, with Marchant going inside despite an overlap to score a second try.<\/p>\n

However, during the build-up, Vinaya Habosi made direct contact with Marcus Smith during the tackle and received a yellow card.<\/p>\n

However, the 14 men rallied.<\/p>\n

<\/amp-ima-video><\/p>\n

Bunker turns down young star’s EPIC trial | 01:07<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Lomani missed a second penalty, but soon after Fiji hit back thanks to a smart pass through his legs from flyhalf Botitu which allowed No.8 Mata to sell a dummy and race on.<\/p>\n

Although they were outplayed with a numerical advantage, England quickly regained control and two more penalties from Farrell gave them a 21-10 lead at the break.<\/p>\n

– Flying Fijians come to life –<\/b><\/p>\n

The second half devolved into a war of attrition and became increasingly disjointed and confrontational, with both teams’ open flanks, Curry and Levani Botia<\/a>, almost coming to blows at one point.<\/p>\n

Farrell kicked a penalty, then saw a long-range effort fail. But the game came alive in the 64th minute when replacement prop Ravai hit a perfect line from Simione Kuruvoli’s pass to explode and score.<\/p>\n

Suddenly Fiji had their tails up and after scrum-half Kuruvoli hit the post with a penalty, the Pacific Islanders struck again.<\/p>\n

Semi Radradra’s brilliant offload sent Isoa Nasilasila through a gap and he fed Botitu to score Fiji’s third try.<\/p>\n

Kuruvoli’s conversion leveled the scores at 24-24.<\/p>\n

Farrell had the last laugh, however, and although Fiji played for almost six minutes after the final shot, they failed to find a winning converted try.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

England defeat Fiji in RWC quarter final\u060c Fiji captain Waisea Nayacalevu has complained about unconscious refereeing bias following his team’s defeat to England in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals on Sunday. Fiji outscored England by three tries to two, but were beaten 30-24 in Marseille after England captain Owen Farrell scored 20 points, including five […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1626,666,1604,1372,1371,1357],"class_list":["post-1348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","tag-defeat","tag-england","tag-fiji","tag-final","tag-quarter","tag-rwc"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1348"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6878,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1348\/revisions\/6878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}