Australia and Fiji Teams

Australian Head coach Eddie Jones has made three changes to his starting XV from the team who defeated Georgia last game, with James Slipper replacing the injured Taniela Tupou in the front-row, Nick Frost coming into the second-row, and Nic White at scrum-half.

Australia have just five survivors in their match-day 23 from the last side to play Fiji at the RWC (2019): Samu Kerevi, Nic White, Marika Koroibete, Jordan Uelese and James Slipper all named. Richie Arnold’s twin brother Rory also played that day.

James Slipper starts at tight-head for only the third time in his career after 2012 against the All Blacks in Brisbane, and 2021 against England at Twickenham. Seventy-three of his 75 starts for the Wallabies have been at loose-head. Only George Gregan has played more RWC games for Australia.

Fraser McReight hit the most defensive rucks of any player across the opening weekend with 11, winning two breakdown turnovers.

Ben Donaldson scored 25 points on his Rugby World Cup debut last weekend, the most by any Wallaby in a RWC game since Bernard Foley’s 28 points against England in 2015.

This will be the first time half-backs Nic White and Carter Gordon have started alongside each other for Australia.

Comments from Fiji:

Simon Raiwailui, head coach

On Fiji’s physical and mental recovery after the Wales game:

“Obviously it was a pretty physical game against a good Welsh team. The next day the boys were a bit sore. They recovered well, and mentally we were thinking that we’re onto the next task. The World Cup tends to turn around quickly in one week so we couldn’t dwell on the last match too long. We did our review and got out of it what we need to do better against the Wallabies. Obviously it’s a big challenge for us against a really good team.”

“I think the game against Wales we carried very well, we had a lot of possession but we turned over the ball quite a lot, I think 17 times, so we worked on that, securing the ball and taking our chances where we have them.”

On Frank Lomani being on the bench against Australia with Simione Kuruvoli starting at scrum-half:

“Frank pulled up quite sore after the match (against Wales) and we’ve had the philosophy since the beginning of the campaign that everyone is there to play. Simione is a great player as well so he gets the chance this weekend and Frank will come off the bench.”

On whether Australia’s five straight losses before Rugby World Cup 2023 means Fiji are potential favourites:

“(Australia) have been playing very well, they’ve got a young, dynamic team, very aggressive on the gain-line with their carries, their cleans, a lot of strike weapons across the field, so we don’t take much from what their (warm-up) results are. I think Eddie will have them firing for the match and we’re looking forward to a great occasion, two teams who like to play rugby, play with ball carriers and strike weapons so it should be a good match.”

On playing against the seven native Fijians in the Australian team:

“We’re proud of all Fijians that play all over the world. Some have had to go overseas to find opportunities but we’re proud of all our brothers whether they play for Fiji or Australia or other countries. It’s going to be good with 30 Fijians on the field.”

Waisea Nayacalevu, captain

On the importance of the match against Australia:

“It’s a do or die game this week for us, so that’s our mentality this week. We take Australia seriously and we’ve prepared well this week for the game on Sunday.”

On what they’ve been doing when not focusing on rugby:

“Just singing. We love to sing. We went for Starbucks and sushi in the city.”

Jiuta Wainiqolo, wing

On his emotions ahead of the match against Australia:

“I’m very happy, very excited, looking forward to this game against Australia. It’s one of the biggest tournaments in rugby so I’m looking forward to represent my country and play alongside with my brothers.”

On playing against native Fijians in the Australian team:

“This will be my first time to play against Australia and Marika Koroibete and Mark Nawaqanitawase – all those star players – and I’m looking forward to it. I’m a big fan of Marika Koroibete, and I’m going up against him on Sunday. He’s a very good player and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Luke Tagi, prop

On the gravity of the match for Fiji:

“It’s a do or die match for us so we’re really looking forward to it. I think it’s going to be a physical match, but I think the boys have prepared well.”

Comments From Australia:

Eddie Jones, head coach

On captain Will Skelton pulling up after training with a calf issue: 

“He got a bit of a knock at the end of training so he’s just getting some extra medical work now. At this stage he is still in the team.”

On how long Skelton will be given to prove his fitness:

“Right up until kick-off.”

On what it would mean to the team to lose their captain: 

“We don’t deal with the hypothetical.”

On injured first-choice prop Taniela Tupou:

“He’s got a hamstring strain. We believe he will be available in the next couple of weeks.”

On how he sees the current state of test-match rugby: 

“The game is evolving. You can see in this World Cup the game is evolving into these 30-second bouts of absolute power, big people playing the game. So, you’ve got these 30-second bouts of power then interspersed with a two-minute burst of soccer/football where there is a lot of transition and you’ve got to be able to play really quickly.

“I think it’s really fascinating at the moment where the game will go next. World Rugby have tried to make the game safer but they’ve made it more powerful, by having more stoppages in the game. And there’s risks to that, there’s risks when the game becomes more powerful.

“But I think this World Cup is going to be decided by who can win those power contests. But then it might be in one game, particularly a game like Fiji where there is a lot of counter-attacking, that it might be one of those football-soccer like episodes where there is a lot of transitional play.”

On the role of coaching within this current sphere of rugby: 

“Coaching-wise, I think how you prepare s-and-c-wise [strength and conditioning] for almost two different games is quite intriguing and then how you get the players to have the skillset to be able to play this power game and at the same time be able to play an open, transitional game.”

On what he would do to improve the sport: 

“I’ve always said you need the game to be more continuous. You know the average ball-in-play is 30 seconds, the average break-in-play is 70 seconds. So, you encourage a power contest. I think we need more continuous play.

“I think our use of the TMO in rugby is fraught with danger. They are asking a referee in the grandstand to make decisions on a different angle on the game, through video. It’s not making the game a better spectacle, it’s not making a better game for the players.

“We are lucky because international rugby is so popular. You look at Lille last night, 50,000 there to watch France play Uruguay. We play a practice game (pre-Rugby World Cup) against France, there’s 80,000 people there. International rugby is so popular we could almost put anything on the field and people are still going to come because of the nationalism and patriotism of the teams.

“But I think we really need to improve the game. I think at the end of this World Cup there will be an opportunity to do that.”

On the challenge Fiji will present: 

“They’ve got, as we know, a brilliant ability to play counter-attacking rugby. They’ve got pace and they’ve got precision and that puts a different test to you.

“They’re a team of power, they’ve got pace and they showed that in the last 10 minutes against Wales.

On how the Wallabies will look to counteract those strengths and impose their game on Fiji: 

“When you play against Fiji you would always like to have a set-piece advantage and we started the tournament off well in that area, so that’s an area we would like to keep growing in.

“Then our ability to win those power contests and then as the game goes transitional to be two steps ahead of Fiji, who are a good side in that area.

“The power contest will be interesting, they’ve got a very big pack but we want to take them on in that area.”

On the importance of James Slipper, playing in his fourth Rugby World Cup: 

“He’s like having a coach on the field.

“It’s a remarkable achievement to play in four World Cups. He started off as a tight-head and then volunteered to go to loose-head and he’s volunteering to go back to tight-head. It’s a real testament to his courage, to his resilience, to how much he loves the game. He loves playing for the Wallabies and we think on Sunday he will play a pretty big game for us.”

On utility back Ben Donaldson retaining his place at full-back: 

“Donno played very well at full-back in the last game, kicked well and we feel like we’ve got the necessary cover there. He has [the shirt] for this game.”

Blake Schoupp, loose-head prop

On having been a teacher at a school in Sydney just 12 months ago: 

“I still talk to the teachers I used to work with and they still send me funny messages about what the kids are up to and that’s pretty cool.

“I remember my last day when I was teaching, they all knew I was going to quit teaching and go down to train with the Brumbies [Super Rugby team] and I actually put up one of my games on the big screen because all the kids were asking me. And they were all criticising me because they saw me walking around the field.”

On the school being for kids with behavioural issues and disadvantaged backgrounds: 

“It’s a behavioural school, a school for specific purposes, troubled kids, kids that were disadvantaged and had poor home lives and stuff like that. It was a good experience to be there and exposed to a different kind of environment in the classroom.

“It was 7-12 year olds and ranging from many types of learning levels.

“I am trained in physical education but I can teach anything from 7-10 [year olds[. At that school it was a multi-learning facility so you just create programmes for kids depending on what the interests where because a lot of them were coming in-and-out of juve [juvenile detention centres] and a lot of them hadn’t had a lot of schooling in the periods before they came to our school.

“It was about providing an environment for them to come and learn and get away from whatever was going on outside of their lives.”

On crediting that experience with helping him get to where he is today:

“It gave me the opportunity to be appreciative of what I had at the time. I had a great working environment at the school and I really enjoyed what I did and that allowed me to have things going on other than rugby. At the time I was playing for Southern District and we weren’t going so well results-wise.

“There were aspirations to go higher (in rugby) but at the time I was pretty content with the job I had. It gave me a lot of clarity. I credit that to where I am today.”

On how head coach Eddie Jones motivates him when the going gets tough in training: 

“He just reinforces my stature and uses that as a bit of motivation. It’s that in many different ways. He’s very good with his words and motivation.”

On the impact veteran prop James Slipper has on him and the squad at large: 

“Massive. Not only for me but for every front-rower in Australia, he’s a huge inspiration, playing in four World Cups and the quality of player he is. We are just lucky to have him in the squad still. For me growing up, he was someone I idolised, so to be able to rub shoulders with him every day and watch him go about his business is good enough for me, I don’t really pester him too much.

“I was 12 years old (when Slipper made his international debut in 2010), in public school, watching it on TV with my dad. I don’t want to make him feel any older than he is, but I have mentioned it a couple of times, couple of running jokes about his age.”

Lalakai Foketi, centre

On defence being a big focus against Fiji: 

“Against Wales, they made the most metres in the comp(etition). Their backline is really strong – and even their forwards – so defence is definitely a big focus this week.

“We want to put pressure on them. After training the boys are doing extras in defending and working on our tackles and working as a collective because that is what Fiji is looking for, a broken line, and we can’t give them that.”

On the mindset of tackling a Fijian, knowing the skills they have: 

“Every time you go into a tackle you’ve got to have a mindset of stopping them there but obviously, as everyone knows, Fiji are really hard to tackle. They’re made out of stone.

“We’ve just got to get numbers around the ball. We know they love to offload, so if we can stop them in their tracks and get two in that tackle and try and get the next defensive person around the ball for the offload, that’s a big focus.”

On Fiji defence coach Daryl Gibson who has played a big role in his career: 

“I am very grateful to him. I haven’t spoken to him for a while now. It would be good to see him after the game, hopefully we can share a beer together and talk about the journey and discuss what’s been going on.

“Hopefully he’s not talking to me about their backs.”

Nick Frost, second-row

On his ripped right ear that is proving troublesome: 

“I cut it open in the Bledisloe game first test (versus New Zealand) and it’s been a bit of annoyance since. At the moment I am trying to protect it, I’ve re-opened it a few times. Every time you do contact, in a contact sport, against the side of your head, it opens back up.

“Protection-wise, it’s a bit of headgear and tape and a bit of padding. It’s been really annoying, such a small thing that keeps you out. Stitches three times.

“Before we left Darwin (site of an Australia training camp) I was going to get a quick surgery to fix it up but they decided against it. It was infected, so I did spend a day there getting some antibiotics to clear it up. From an infection it takes a bit more time to heal, and then when we thought I was good to go, I had an accident in training and re-opened it.

“It’s been a few weeks, so very annoying. Now we are looking pretty much on the right track.”

On wearing a water-polo cap for training to try and hold his ear on: 

“We’ve had to order a few in and there’s a bit of an arts and craft department with the physios. We are working things out, sewing things on. Trying to source a water polo cap in the south of France was a bit of an issue.

“I wear that for training and then I have my headgear on for training.

“Previously we had a bit of foam cup over my ear and it was pretty hard to hear. Now I’ve got my hearing back in one ear, which helps on the rugby field.”

Angus Bell, prop

On his relationships with James Slipper, who plays in his fourth Rugby World Cup: 

“Slips is one of the legends of rugby and probably one of the best front-rowers Australia has ever had.

“Slips helped me a lot through school before I became a professional. He’s awesome and he will add a lot of value to the team. He brings a lot of edge around our defence and also our mauling and set-piece.

“We had connections prior, through my father coaching him.”

On Slipper’s rare ability to play both loose-head and tight-head: 

“It’s super impressive. If we didn’t have Slips applying that flipping role and being able to play both sides, I couldn’t tell you how many tests we’ve been in where both of our tight-heads get injured and Slips has to jump over and come off the bench. It’s invaluable.

‘It’s something not many people could do in the world. Slips is just as good at tight-head as he is at loose-head.”

On feeling the absence of fellow prop Taniela Tupou who is injured: 

“There is a big difference, obviously Nela is one of the better scrummagers in the world right now and obviously quite powerful.”