Sunday, September 02, 2007

Rugby World Cup 2007: Schedule of Fiji

Rugby world cup 2007 is just five days away. So, the rugby fans around the world are now excited to see their stars in France. Rugby world cup 2007 is going to be the sixth edition of rugby world cup. Twenty teams will be playing in four pools of five teams each. Top two teams from each pool will qualify for the quarter final round. England is the defending champion but they have to face strong challenge from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France.

Fiji is not a big name in the rugby world. They do not have any notable performance in the recent world cup tournaments. Their best world cup result was in 1987 where they qualified for the quarter final round. So, they are clearly underdog in Pool B. Fiji has to face two times world cup champion Australia, Wales, Canada and Japan. Australia is clearly favorite to qualify for the knock out stage from Pool B. For the second place Wales and Canada will have better chance to progress to the next round. However, in sports upsets are very common. So, it is not possible to say something with 100 percent assurance. If Fiji can qualify for the quarter final stage then they may face England or South Africa in quarter final stage. Here, I am giving the full pool stage schedule of Fiji below:

Pool B

Date

Competing Teams

Venue

Referee

12-9-2007

Fiji vs Japan

Toulouse

Marius Jonker (South Africa)

16-9-2007

Fiji vs Canada

Cardiff

Tony Spreadbury (England)

23-9-2007

Fiji vs Australia

Montpellier

Nigel Owens (Wales)

29-9-2007

Fiji vs Wales

Nantes

Stuart Dickinson (Australia)

Fiji coach Ilivasi Tabua has given more importance on younger players in the squad. The squad includes only four players who have played over 30 matches for Fiji. Fly half Nicky Little has appeared for Fiji in 60 international matches. The other three veteran players are Norman Ligairi, scrum half Mosese Rauluni and Sisa Koyamaibole.

If you are interested to know about the Fiji squad for the rugby world cup 2007 then click here.


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