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Experienced Fiji hope for no slip-ups against Georgia / Photo: © AFP
Experienced Fiji hope for no slip-ups against Georgia
Fiji's "most experienced" team at a Rugby World Cup have the chance to all but book their place in the quarter-finals on Saturday with victory over Georgia in Bordeaux.
The Pacific Islanders are on the brink of their third appearance in the last eight thanks to a win over Australia on September 17.
Fiji will be warm favourites to beat the Lelos this weekend who have performed below expectations even being held 18-18 by Portugal last Saturday.
The Portuguese are Fiji's final opponents.
"I think we've had strong teams in the past," assistant coach Daryl Gibson said after Friday's training session.
"It's probably the best prepared Fiji team. The most experienced in terms of caps."
Fiji will not be complacent having learned a hard lesson in 2019 with an embarrassing defeat by Uruguay.
Fiji's lone victory in 2019 was a 45-10 rout of Georgia.
"I think one thing we have now, we respect every team," said flanker Levani Botia.
"What happened in 2019 is something we didn't expect."
"Now we have to expect that every team is going to compete against us.
"We move game by game and forget about the next week, we focus on this game," he added.
Gibson said he expected a Georgian reaction to their draw with Portugal.
"The motivation is very high," he said.
"Clearly, they looked disappointed with their performance."
Super Rugby franchise Fijian Drua, which came into being since the 2019 World Cup, has helped them be more competitive this time round.
"We're very fortunate that we've got a really nice blend of more experienced players and less experienced players in the campaign, which will bode well for future years," said Gibson.
"You can see improvement in the areas that we know we need to get better: exits, our mauls, our set piece, a lot of factors have gone into our improvement."
Fiji have been able to invest in professional preparation with a long warm-up camp.
"On our form at the minute, I think it's how we're training," said hooker Sam Matavesi.
"It's certainly changed this whole 15 weeks. We've trained really hard and it's shown in the results we've got."
Asked about reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since 2007, Matavesi hinted at bigger dreams.
"I think the goal is to win it, that's why we're here, but obviously you have to get to the quarters first to progress," he said.
"We haven't looked past any team we haven't played already, so all focus is on Georgia."
P. Duarte--JDB
