The flying Fijians opened and ended at Twickenham with a little trademark magic, but in between it was one-way traffic as the Barbarians made easy work of their patchwork opponents.
BARBARIANS 43 vs 19 FIJI
Saturday, November 30, 14:30 GMT, London
Some marvellous stepping from Nikola Matawalu, lining up at fullback rather his more accustomed scrumhalf, handed Asaeli Tikoirotuma a breakaway try on five minutes to get the crowd into the game. Seremaia Bai added the extras and Fiji were ahead, a lead they enjoyed until the Barbarians got into their grove in the second quarter.
Bismarck du Plessis scored two tries from in close and Duane Vermeulen added a single as the BaaBaas pack showed their dominance, winning both the scrum and lineout despite only being assembled a couple days prior. The Fijian forwards looked even more worn out than usual, though it was impressive to see Netani Talei giving his all after playing the night before for his Welsh club side Dragons.
It took the second half a few minutes to wake up as well, finally getting some inspiration from Willie le Roux, whose deft left boot found Charles Piutau on the wing and the All Black evaded two defenders to score under the posts. Captain Jean de Villiers added two tries of his own, and Tom Taylor took a wonderful offload from a certain Schalk Burger to round out the Barbarian tries. Burger had a solid game and with a strong Super Rugby season could yet be challenging for more Springbok honours next season.
Replacements Levani Botia, Alex Rokobaro, and Henry Seniloli combined to score Fiji’s second try, and it was Seniloli sending Rokobaro in for the final score to end the game. Impressive stuff from the youngsters who look set to challenge for regular places in the team moving forward.
In the end it was a fun game with moments of class interspersed with some dull periods of play, but the fans got their money’s worth during the last half hour at least. They might have gotten a little more had the European clubs been more sympathetic to the occasion and allowed Fiji to play with their best.
SCORING
05 mins – A. Tikoirotuma try 0-5
06 mins – S. Bai con 0-7
20 mins – B. du Plessis try 5-7
36 mins – D. Vermeulen try 10-7
37 mins – P. Lambie con 12-7
39 mins – B. du Plessis try 17-7
53 mins – C. Piutau try 22-7
54 mins – P. Lambie con 24-7
56 mins – J. de Villiers try 29-7
56 mins – P. Lambie con 31-7
64 mins – T. Taylor try 36-7
72 mins – H. Seniloli try 36-12
78 mins – J. de Villiers try 41-12
78 mins – P. Lambie con 43-12
80 mins – A. Rokobaro try 43-17
80 mins – W. Luveniyali con 43-19
CARDS
22 mins – M. Ravulo yellow (team infringements)
72 mins – D. Vermeulen yellow (dangerous tackle)
BARBARIANS
S. Cordero (W. le Roux HT); F. Halai, G. Williams (T. Taylor 54), J. de Villiers (capt.), C. Piutau; P. Lambie, T.J. Perenara (M. Landajo 50); T. Mtawarira (G. Roan 55), B. du Plessis (K. Mealamu 50), M. Diaz (C. Oosthuizen 61); M. Carizza (L. Whitelock 50), D. Bird; S. Luatua (M. O’Driscoll 78), S. Burger, D. Vermeulen.
FIJI
N. Matawalu; S. Speight (A. Rokobaro 45), A. Tikoirotuma, L. Botia, A. Delai; S. Bai (capt.) (W. Luveniyali 67), N. Kenatale (H. Seniloli HT); C. Ma’afu (J. Yanuyanutawa 54), P. Ravai (S. Naureure 57), M. Saulo (S. Somoca 54); L. Nakarawa, A. Naikatini (S. Matavesi 19-25, 57); N. Nagusa, M. Ravulo (M. Koroiyadi 60), N. Talei.
Referee: P. Gauzere (FFR)
