When Fiji beat England, they said England is at their lowest right now. The same they said about the Wales team. Now that they have beaten Australia, they say Australian rugby is at their low. And if Fiji go on to lift the World Cup, they will say that this year, and only this year, World Rugby is at its low... How many years did Fiji prepare for this? And what were the others doing?
Exactly, as an Englishman I agree. We are living in a new era of rugby. Australia are no longer the world rugby superpower they once were and it's nice to see other teams catching up, especially Pacific island teams. They have done so much for rugby for so long and have had to deal with lack of funding, losing many great players to other nations, it's their time to join the big boys now and we shouldn't be threatened by it. This will only be a good thing for the sport of rugby, seeing the same small handful of teams win all the time is boring. The reason association football is so popular is because there is such a small ability gap between teams and anything is possible. Most national teams have players playing in some of the best leagues in the world many countries have very competitive domestic leagues and upsets are very common. The fact that a team as talented as Fiji have only beaten Australia 3 times in their history is insane and it's nice to finally see a shift. Samoa and Tonga have also put in some very impressive performances recently as well.
@@kurtpunchesthings2411 after beating England, and you watch the next opposition... You can see the fear in their eyes! Wales should have been beaten, and if that was so, it would have been England, Wales and Australia in a row...
Horrible for Australia but honestly a great boost for Fiji and Pasifika rugby in general..it shows that with more investment..not only Fiji but also potentiallly Samoa and Tonga can improve their game and become legit competitive rivals for Australia and New Zealand..thus building southern hemisphere rugby. Super Rugby Pacific is already a great platform in my view and i think they should give further attention to it.
I agree that rugby in Australia has been declining over the past 20 plus years and I miss the old days when the Bledisloe Cup rivalry with NZ was an exciting event that could go either way. But, gotta give credit to Fiji. They've been improving consistently over the past few years and they played extremely well deserving the win.
That’s true to a point because kids who get rugby scholarships in the big private schools are scouted hard by rugby league in Australia there is a more glamorous pathway/future for kids who grew up poor in so many other sports. The Rugby administration in Australia hasn’t been truly held to account by the fans because not enough people care about the sport.
On behalf of the NRL I'd just like to congratulate the ARU on their continuing support and growth of Ruby League in Australia, couldn't of done it without you!
Finally somebody speaking complete and utter sense about Australian rugby. It is a disgrace what the administration has done to the grass roots of this game in Australia.
Couldn’t agree more. When I left Oz to live in Toronto 22yrs ago it’s like we just started losing, lost consistency, lost legacy. It’s a shame. Hopefully this is the start of the next gen.
Statistical studies show that if only one more man had stayed in australia instead of moving overseas 22 years ago, australian rugby would stiĺl be No1 in the world. So, James Wilson, how does is feel to be totally responsible for the decline of australian rugby?
It's the end of 20 years of neglect. 20 years of poor administration. 20 years of poor technical coaching!!!!!! how about Fiji PLAYING BETTER AND BEING THE BETTER TEAM
I mean, a lot of this has to come down to Australia taking themselves out from within. The fact they have won 2x World Cups and were a complete powerhouse until the last decade when they slowly started to wane. It's clearly more to do with how Australia have their own inner problems, not that that's any excuse for the fact Fiji were better on the day.
Todays result was a combination of both. Fiji have pulled off their best ever performances recently. Australia have undoubtedly gone way backwards and have been for a while.
I miss the great nz vs aus tight rivalry we use to have when we meet. 20 years holding onto the bledisloe cup is way too long for nz. I Hope Australian rugby gets back to its former glory and reignite that nz/aus tight rivalry
Give Fiji some credit man. Played phenomenal rugby. Well balanced team with a mobile forward pack to compliment a star studded backline. Pasika rugby is on the come up 🔥
This sits on Eddies selection… Michael Hooper, Pete Samu, Quade Cooper, Len Ikitau, Reece Hodge and Andrew Kellaway all sitting around watching Aussie lose. Then he talks after the game about it being a young team like he had no other choice. Does anyone remember how good Cooper, Kerevi, Ikitau and Kellaway were as a backline? It’s not like those players have disappeared off the planet.
Agree! you need the older heads with experience in the crucial games particularly.This Australian team is young and it showed today.Hooper and all of the other discarded Wallabies would of made a huge difference to the team today.Well played Fiji.
This sits on Australian rugby big heads that only care to invest money in grass roots for th3 NRL.. no one besides a handful of countries care for rugby league.. the world watches rugby union... invest in rugby union.. League is for pussys who can't make it big in rugby union...
Matt Williams speaks the truth - as a Kiwi living in Australia -heavily involved in local club rugby - it's a fucking wasteland. Rugby Australia has gone out of their way to destroy the game here.
Very disrespectful to imply losing to Fiji is a total disaster. This is *not* the same old Fiji from the 2000s and the 90s. Fiji are playing in Super Rugby, they are playing in top French clubs and they are fantastic athletes with great technical skills.
Exactly.....The way they talk about Fiji is as if they are some random team who just started playing rugby....They said the same thing in Fiji vWales, talking about how wales game was horrible but hardly gave credit to how well Fiji played. And now that Fiji won against Aus they still can't believe it even though Fiji have been slowly improving in past test matches. It's difficult for them to accept that they were outplayed and outclassed😂
I think you gents miss the point. Australia are a two-time World Cup champion and now what are they? They’ve been on the decline for a generation, death by a thousand cuts, left in the dirty by rugby league. The game is dying in Australia, and this era is proving that.
I moved to Aus from South Africa. Australia will never be top again, the support for NRL and AFL is too big . Very few care about rugby union and such there is very little ground root development.
@@sdelectiontaskforce3068 I understand different atmosphere but Australia are trash and have been trash for some time soo it wasn’t unexpected! Atmosphere or not Fiji have looked by far the better team leading up to rwc and deservedly so
I think you can add England to the list of Australia and Wales who've seen a structural decline in their rugby.All three countries need a radical overhaul to avoid being left behind.
The main problem for rugby union in Australia, it's that this sport is ranked 5th in popularity, behind, in this order: Australian Football, Rugby League, Cricket and Soccer. For decades, this main problem of rugby union in Australia, was hidden under the carpet, because of some great players coming from Rugby League, or because many young Australians learned basics of rugby because of this sport. Which is some kind of a sport brother of Rugby Union. There's no other pair of team sports, that you are able to get players from one sport into another sport with such an ease. In the past, until mid 1990s, despite popularity, the rugby sports were not even professional around the world, they were all amateur, or at most semi-professional. Rugby union, simply started to look like a real professional sport, in 2000s. The real decline of Australia rugby union came after winning silver in 2015 World Cup. Now all big nations in rugby union are 100% professional, with rugby union being more (or much more) popular than rugby league(e.g. S. Africa doesn't even compete in Rugby League World Cups), so the details related to the differences in the 2 rugby codes are now much more visible in the final performance. It's simply not possible anymore for Australia, to take some good Rugby league players overnight, paying them well, to make a competitive good rugby union team.
Rugby in Australia still too tied to Private Schools. Talent there selected too early - big boys given scholarships rather than talented boys - then Rugby League poaches them with what seems like big money to an 18 year- old, There is no structure to keep rugby players playing rugby.
Here’s some comments about Eddie Jones from John Connelly (ex wallabies coach that took over coaching from 2006-2007 with a 64% win record vs Eddie Jones record from 2001-2005 of 57.89% win record): Eddie Jones is a a 'charlatan'. John Connolly succeeded Jones when the outspoken rugby coach left his post as Wallabies coach in 2006, having guided the Aussies over a four-year spell. Jones went on to coach the Japanese and English national teams before making a return to the Wallabies earlier this year, but after losing to South Africa and Argentina in his first two games in charge, Connolly fears the appointment is a backwards step. 'How did we end up with Eddie again? He is full of it. He talks a great game but plays a terrible one,' Connolly, who labelled the comeback a 'bloody disaster', told the Telegraph 'He is a charlatan, he is a failed selector. He was the captain's pick by the chairman who just came into the job. When I took over from Eddie, the players were like beaten down sheepdogs. If you walked in a room they would have their heads down and were scared to do anything. 'There was no leadership. There was no development. It was a total void that took nearly a year to rebuild. I can't believe we have made the same mistake again.' Shame on the ARU for kicking out Rennie on his backside. Pack of crooks. Bring back Rennie
The issue is in the 1970s the sporting market in Australia was in a place where it was possible for the revival of the wallabies and to get the public interest back. The fact is, Australia has the most bloated winter sports market in the world and rugby Union is at the bottom of the heap, below AFL, NRL, soccer now, etc. - everything is against them, the lack of playing stocks, the lack of money, the lack of interest. Unless something radical is done the wallabies may well be done forever from being a tier 1 nation. People overseas really don’t understand how dire it is (and has been for the last 10 years).
I like Union but it’s hard to follow it in a state like Victoria. There are no local clubs when I was kid 10 years ago and everyone is more interested in NFL now. 😂
I think you’re mostly right but theres two reasons for hope, Eddie Jones and RWC in 27’ Jones is copping it now but I think he’s been seeing this cup as a writeoff while he builds a solid team. Jones is a scholar of the game and is probably the best coach in the world to take a team from the bottom to the top. If he can get the wallabies upto Eales/Gregan era 99-2003 level form in time for the 2027 cup, possibly with a bledisloe in between it will revive the game In Aus. But it has to happen. If it doesn’t by then all bets are off. Nothing will save it and Union is truly finished in this country.
Valid comments. What we also saw today is that without Skelton and Tupou the engine room of the Wallabies fell apart and destructured the team. 18 penalties suggests a lot of pressure applied at the breakdown. Fiji won by punting the ball after penalties, but were dominant in every play. Not many positives for the Wallabies and they should have been up for this game. Skelton will be out and that means the Wallabies are up against it with Wales. Definitely the Wallabies worst game recently. I support Eddie Jones revival with new players though did not anticipate the intensity of the pain in this era.
Even if Skelton or Tupou,still Fiji would have won,they feared no one today..They learnt how to punish the Austalians from their Pacific brothers Samoa and that is to smash with bone jaggling tackles..😅😅😅😅😅
For once I agree with Matt. No player role models, no interest in the game already competing with other codes. Sad if you look at the facilities they have. The best in the world. Also look at the wallabies- looks like they have been trying to entice talent from Fiji, Tonga etc rather then actually build from school boy level. Finally leaving Hooper at home was stupid. He is actually a role model and a fantastic player
It was madness leaving Michael Hooper at home. Through thick and thin, he has been the one Wallaby player you could always count on to show up and give 100%, no matter the circumstances. An inspirational leader, one of the best openside flankers of the modern era, and they leave him behind. Beyond stupid.
New Zealand is in the same predicament, collapsing financially and in deep, deep trouble. The writing has been on the wall for a number of years, but very few people won’t to see it. Falling participation numbers, families not allowing their kids to play. A drastically changing ethnicity base within New Zealand has seen to this as more kids wanting to play other sports. Look at the studies that have been undertaken by the likes of football organisations who have grave concerns around young kids heading a football, good grief and you wonder why parents are stopping them playing rugby? Clubs collapsing under the strain of trying to cover the costs of running an NPC match at a stadium (hundreds of thousands per game) while a couple of hundred turn up to watch. Many rural folk may tell you otherwise but the reality is far, far different in the larger urban areas around New Zealand. The sport is dying……
Irish poster here: could you expand on your points about parents not allowing kids to play and the changing ethnicity base? Genuinely interested, please and thanks.
@@TheLastAngryMan01 Parents are simply not allowing their kids to play rugby. Over the last 20 years, there has been a rapid ethnic shift in New Zealand. These ethnic groups are simply not interested in the sport, furthermore they’re placing more importance on academic achievements over Rugby. You also have the lower socioeconomic groups hanging their hopes on professional rugby contracts. Participation numbers are dropping year on year. Ironically the biggest participation sport amongst youth by FAR! is football. NZ Rugby is in deep trouble.
@@fabmanly1070 Thank you for your reply. Is there any particular reason that parents are turning their kids away from rugby? Safety concerns or something like that? I’m guessing that European Kiwi parents are the group on question here.
@@TheLastAngryMan01 Europeans are just but one ethnic group in this. Asian is the major group, including countries like China, India, Philippines, Korea, Indonesia………. And then add to this mixed families from Asian groups as well and you have a massive new generation of people who are unwilling to put kids into this sport. Basketball, Football is huge and growing. Auckland with a relatively large slice of the countries population is the driving force behind new sports and opportunities where kids are just not interested in what is looked upon as an archaic pastime. Why would you put your kid in a sport where they will get pummeled, the world has moved on. Rugby in its current guise will not be played into the next century. International organisations are already calling for a ban on youth to stop heading the ball in Football! Yet kids are going out and smashing themselves up in rugby. I predict rugby to have another 50-70 years left, before it’s looked upon as utter madness. People will look back in absolute horror at 100 year old footage of idiots’ smashing into each other, but that’s a whole different debate. Yes families are pulling there kids out from rugby in massive droves. The numbers are scary, New Zealand will simply not have a sustainable player base to continue, moreover spectators are not interested.
Fiji will always be thankful to Australia for fighting to put our Drua team in the NRC and also in the super rugby. It really helped grow local players who are in the Drua, now in this world cup team boosting performance in this world cup and mixing it up with other Fijian players who play professional rugby in Europe, the end result speaks for itself.Go Wallabies 🇦🇺🐨!!!! Fight is not over yet in this world cup.
Keep in mind A fijian winger in the Australian team scored a try for Australia, Koroibete prevented a try by Habosi and Kerevi created a try for Australia😂😂
Same winger was responsible for Fiji try and gifted turnovers to Fiji along with kerevi 🤣. Yeah dumb Jones likes dumb Fijians. The only good one is koroibete yes he's a beast
Matt Williams is bang on Australia had the best ball play and backline moves in world rugby they forced All Blacks to level up. Gone are the days of Gregan, Larkam, Joe Roth John Eales etc to name a few, that's the true Australian rugby identity that's completely disappeared over the years it's sad to see because it was such beautiful rugby to watch.
ITS TIME to accept that other once considered minnow nations, are catching up with, and even surpassing tier 1 rugby nations, and I think it's down to the success of things like the rugby sevens program
Saffa here, advice to Australia, build high school rugby into something massive. In South Africa there isn’t much between high school and national side for interest and passion. My 10 cents.
Bro here in Australia we are not a rugby union nation. All of our talent goes to the NRL. Hence why rugby league here is 10x bigger than union. The NRL knows how to develop and produce high level players. They only people who get a chance in union, are the private school kids. Rugby League and AFL are played in nearly every public school here, and it’s free not like union. So you can kind of see which pathways are more clear for up and coming players.
Literally a handful of teams play rugby league.. LOL rugby league is like playing play play rugby 😂😂😂 it's for pussys who can't make the big leagues in Europe and south Africa
Wales grass roots is in a dreadful place, masked by relative international success. If your a rugby man in Wales you know we are heading for if not already a tier2 rugby nation. Best outcome this world cup is not to get out of tne group. Sounds like the same is happening in Oz.
Wallabies were never criticised, always protected, seriously virtually nobody in Australia cares about rugby, always was a rich kids sport, now there in the world spotlight and everyone sees how pathetic they really are.
Imagine how we South Africans felt when we lost to Japan 😂 At least Fiji are certified ballers. They outplayed Australia and are going to beat other big teams too
Whoever didn’t see this coming is blind…….. Eddie Jones is not the saviour of Australian Rugby, band aid solution at best & shouldn’t be blamed for this….😳😳😳🏉😖
Australia and Australians simply don't care about Rugby Union. We care more about League as that is what we grow up with it's sad considering who Australia were say 30 years ago but those days are gone.
Having watched and supported the Wallabies since the 1987 world cup, I have never seen such a woeful preparation and tactics. Everyone was hailing Eddie as the Messiah for Aussie rugby and none of them can be found now. I've watched grass roots rugby wither and die. Proud old rugby clubs close and no money to develop against league constantly poaching talent. And what does rugby australia do - pay millions to bring them back - for this. There are hundreds of young guys and girls who would give anything to play rugby as a career and represent their country, but they have to go to league to have any chance. Nearly 2 million Sydneysiders have no proper rugby structure in place and no support. AFL, league, soccer, basketball and every other sport is poaching. I love seeing the passion in Fijian rugby. They play for each other and their country. While our chattering private school city suit financial types hold meetings and wonder why it is all going wrong. Maybe they will apologise to Dave Rennie. More likely Putin would apologise to Ukraine than that ever happening.
It's no surprise that Fiji beat Australia....they beat England and should have beaten Wales. To be honest Fiji play a brand of footy with their physics and agility. Obviously alot of countries and club rugby have your typical Fijian on the wing. Also look at our sevens. Fijians play a different brand of footy. Let's Go Fiji. 🇫🇯
It's not just about administrators ignoring grass roots. It's also about appointing a rubbish national coach. Rennie was making progress, and Eddie has come along and destroyed everything. The Wallabies are gonna be flat out beating Portugal. If Eddie and Hamish survive this trainwreck, there'll be no hope for Australian rugby, and we might as well gift the Bledisloe to Aotearoa for the next hundred years.
Matt Williams is right. But here's the truth: Australia have the player stocks and talent. And once they get rid of Eddie, Matt Williams and Nucifora can go home and reform the system even more. Look at what Ireland have done - with a strategy, resources, and a sharp focus on youth development, the turn around has clearly been hard work but the results speak for themselves. The Wallabies will be back.
Jesus man, he's not having a go at the players. He's giving out about the unions themselves, and the state of disarray they've allowed the country's systems to fall into. He's not wrong either, unfortunately. Australia has tumbled from a SH powerhouse because the ARU have neglected grassroots for the better part of a decade, blowing *insane* money at top level instead to entice talent to switch from other codes. The WRU have mismanaged things so badly, that several of the Welsh players didn't know if they'd even have a club to play for at the end of the 6N. 2 traditionally strong rugby nations brought low because of incompetence and short-sightedness. Can't blame him for giving out about it. It's sad to see.
@@elainec6687 Yeah - I don't disagree with yr big picture view, but pay attention to the way in which Irish rugby commentary always finds a way... irrespective of what happens on the field, somehow, somewhere... those Welsh guys just suck at rugby. Even when they lose they don't lose right!
All Blacks supporter here. Fiji, Tonga, Samoa are getting better and better through tough competition. It’s only a matter of time before they beat the All Blacks.
hehehehe "the Fijian coach deserves all the credit he gets, born and bred in Sydney" nice little reminder there for the rest of you in the world, the Fijian coach is born and bred Aussie, thats where he learnt the game so well, the Aussies have dropped the ball over the last decade or so, as this fella says
Give credit where it's due guys. This hypocrisy and bias to the utmost. You see this in every sport now. Countries are focusing and funding more to this sport and the players are buying in. More attention to diet health and fitness. The competition is fierce. Fiji played amazing and that's why they won. Don't discard it even in the nicest way. Unacceptable as a Fijian. Shame on you guys. Go Fiji Go...uro...
🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🎉🎉Well done Fiji!!!! 👏🏾 (from a loving Boks fan!)... Fiji has become such a force in rugby, its really amazing to watch you guys play! This was a well-earned win!
This was one short clip of longer coverage, don't worry, they spoke very highly of Fiji! In fact, after the Fiji- Wales game, they were VERY upset with the result. They admitted they were Fiji fans to Alun Wyn Jones 😂 Matt is an Aussie, which is why he was asked him about them here. The others are Irish (2 are former players), and know well what it's like to be a smaller nation fighting to match up to the bigger, traditional powerhouses! They fully appreciated what Fiji achieved here 😊 Us Irish have been madly cheering Fiji on! Uruguay, Chile, and the other smaller nations too. It's fantastic to see them doing so well overall, and they've produced some BRILLIANT rugby 🤩 They're a joy to watch. Congrats on such a great win, and best of luck for the rest of the tournament! 🏉🏆
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. there's more than enough backline players in Aus union, there is just no attack or defense on the front. the players that need to be selected in NRL are top players who can adapt in the scrum and cover loose forwards or locks. not so much the backs because they always start well but have no front. set that up and wallabies back line will have a calmer scrum half that a fly half can play of, a backline cohesion to fire of that fly half, move quick into space with opposition back peddling on pressure. defensive rucks, counter rucking, ball hunting and breakdown control. if NRL and ARU work together to find these players the wallabies will match the top 3 powerhouse easy imo, they're still solid tho
Completely agree continually buying NRL players an not investing in grass roots is resulting in Wallabies slide . On the other side Fiji Drua in super rugby is now coming to fruition .
Aus isn’t that bad. As a South African you still beat us regularly. New coach. We have just been building for years. Every side goes through rough patches. Before Rassie we where ranked like 7th or something
Fiji just played great rugby. Hopefully the events of their Wales encounter doesn't deny them entry into the QF's. I am starting to think that South Africa not playing Super Rugby any more is hurting the game played by Australia and NZ. They brought the best out of each other and now its like a 3 legged table that is missing ne of its legs.
South Africans like to think that but Australia started declining 10-15 years ago while New Zealand has been declining since 2017 when Ian Foster joined the coaching group.
22 - 8 to be honest. Some weird opportunistic try based on rugby league rule inclusion doesn’t really represent the beating the Aussies received. Official score 22 - 15. “Representative” score 22 - 8. Well done Fiji. I’m hoping they exit the pool and give the Springboks the same treatment.
I’ve been following rugby from NZ for almost 50 years and recently with the world cup I’ve been watching a few more international rugby shows for their interviews etc. Who is Matt Williams? I’ve never heard of him before. Suddenly I’m seeing him on Irish tv panels and the guy can barely string a sentence together.
These critics have truly identified the problem just as the calling of Mr. E. Jones to try put some magic in a 20 yrs fallout as mentioned.. Let's see the professional players workout strategies to beat Wales and make a quarter final spot even to the finals. Fiji usually play semi professional. Now Australia has helped a lot in Fiji's transition to professionalism. Most in Fiji are Wellabies fans. Let's support them. Last RWC Japan beat South Africa. Upsets is healthy and bad refereeing is sick. Go Australian Wellabies go.
I think Fiji is a Tier 2 nation that is why fans think way. Gone are those days. In Fiji right now Rugby is more than just a sport. I hope the Aus make a come back against wales. Aus and NZ are our big brothers. Anyways Fiji need that win. Go Fiji Go.
When you run out of innovation, the competition simply starts to catch up and level out. Its equilibrium at work. Same thing that's going on with other previously dominant teams at the moment. There was one converted try in it, quit the doom and gloom. Wanna go back to being 'great', then innovate!
Until its played in government state schools, because that's where the best talent always comes from whatever sport it is, Australia will just be overtaken and slip down the world standings.
To be fair, Australia beat Wales and ran Ireland close in the autumn internationals last year, with their young team I thought they might be gradually building something. But they seem to have gone backwards in the meantime.
RA executives reside in corporate luxury at Moore Park. Yet some panel/expert/pen pusher defunded Australian Schools Rugby 10 years ago. This foundation stone of Australian Rugby was defunded and the conveyor belt of top class Wallabies ceased. Just one of the many nails in the coffin of RA.
Carter Gordon had a real tough one against Fiji can anyone enlighten me as to why they left quade out of the squad seems to me if they brought someone like him with exp on they could’ve steadied the ship abit? 🤷♂️
Because Eddie Jones decided to blood younger talent for the British & Irish Lions tour in 2025 and The Rugby World Cup in 2027 so he discarded a lot of experienced players, most notably Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper, Jed Holloway, Tom Wright, Len Ikitau, Reece Hodge and Pete Samu. Eddie said he wanted to change the team and part of that was changing the leadership.
Dunedin NZ 23-20 Australia just over a month ago, then be called a bad side. How can Australia nearly beat NZ just over a month ago then be called the worst Aussie teams. This Aussie team are a good side but the celts have a superb league with Bok teams now as well, that’s why Wales were No.1 last WC and Ireland are No1 side now in the world and Scotland are a good side also.
Folks Fiji deserved praise for winning and I agree that they should have won against Wales - many poor refereeing calls there. However, the state of Australian rugby is a separate matter and it has been in the doldrums for some time. I'm not pointing the bone at any one group but things have deteriorated to the point where it is affecting my interest in Australian rugby. Administration in the game has been a long-standing issue and is multi-faceted and will only be seriously addressed when the parties involved put aside self-interest, factionalism and even pettiness in their approach. It is sad that many human beings are only prepared to change when they are largely forced to.
When Fiji beat England, they said England is at their lowest right now. The same they said about the Wales team. Now that they have beaten Australia, they say Australian rugby is at their low. And if Fiji go on to lift the World Cup, they will say that this year, and only this year, World Rugby is at its low... How many years did Fiji prepare for this? And what were the others doing?
Exactly, as an Englishman I agree. We are living in a new era of rugby. Australia are no longer the world rugby superpower they once were and it's nice to see other teams catching up, especially Pacific island teams. They have done so much for rugby for so long and have had to deal with lack of funding, losing many great players to other nations, it's their time to join the big boys now and we shouldn't be threatened by it. This will only be a good thing for the sport of rugby, seeing the same small handful of teams win all the time is boring. The reason association football is so popular is because there is such a small ability gap between teams and anything is possible. Most national teams have players playing in some of the best leagues in the world many countries have very competitive domestic leagues and upsets are very common. The fact that a team as talented as Fiji have only beaten Australia 3 times in their history is insane and it's nice to finally see a shift. Samoa and Tonga have also put in some very impressive performances recently as well.
Fiji won't win this world cup I'd bet my house on it
@@kurtpunchesthings2411 after beating England, and you watch the next opposition... You can see the fear in their eyes! Wales should have been beaten, and if that was so, it would have been England, Wales and Australia in a row...
But that's true. Australia is 7-1 with eddie. Can't beat anyone not just fiji. Same as England. dream on about winning wc lol
@@JFP1988 calm down Australia hasn't been superpower for 20 years
Horrible for Australia but honestly a great boost for Fiji and Pasifika rugby in general..it shows that with more investment..not only Fiji but also potentiallly Samoa and Tonga can improve their game and become legit competitive rivals for Australia and New Zealand..thus building southern hemisphere rugby.
Super Rugby Pacific is already a great platform in my view and i think they should give further attention to it.
Why would they help pacific is teams when aus and nz get the pick of the talent?
6 Fijians in Australia team says it all
@@terryjross1184👍
@@terryjross1184If that's not helping, what might you suggest?
Why would Australia or NZ need it?
Samoa and Tonga would never be on the same level as Fiji in rugby
I agree that rugby in Australia has been declining over the past 20 plus years and I miss the old days when the Bledisloe Cup rivalry with NZ was an exciting event that could go either way. But, gotta give credit to Fiji. They've been improving consistently over the past few years and they played extremely well deserving the win.
It is growing all over the world in a few décadas many ot the T1 are going to be overpass.
Give credit to sr for giving them platform to improve. Lol stoopid NZ and Australian admins
Well said Matt,ignoring juniors and regional for decades brought about gradual and solid demise in the code.
Saffa here… can’t believe how The Force were cast aside
Clearly the blame is on RA for that one
@@Wolf-hh4rvlike the Cheetahs
That’s true to a point because kids who get rugby scholarships in the big private schools are scouted hard by rugby league in Australia there is a more glamorous pathway/future for kids who grew up poor in so many other sports. The Rugby administration in Australia hasn’t been truly held to account by the fans because not enough people care about the sport.
1000000% right.
Fiji playing unbelievable rugby . Facts!!
Matt loves to go in hard, in a few ways.
Instead of going on about how bad Australia was. Why not congratulate Fiji on how good they were?
I've never seen a Fijian backline play with such finesse. The decoy runners they had going - at times they looked like an absolutely first rate team.
@@godisbollocksThey were incredible against Wales too. They would've beaten them if it wasn't for the ref.
Absolutely right 👏👏👏
😂👍most of australian players are fijians👍look at them🤣
Not white australians😂👍
@@IceAge-t5w What's wrong with that? Oz is a multicultural country. Muppets like you live in the past.
On behalf of the NRL I'd just like to congratulate the ARU on their continuing support and growth of Ruby League in Australia, couldn't of done it without you!
Haha brilliant 😂
Finally somebody speaking complete and utter sense about Australian rugby. It is a disgrace what the administration has done to the grass roots of this game in Australia.
Same us us welsh mate grassroots was great here in the 70s 80s 90s and early millennium butt we haven't got the funding other big nations do
Couldn’t agree more. When I left Oz to live in Toronto 22yrs ago it’s like we just started losing, lost consistency, lost legacy. It’s a shame. Hopefully this is the start of the next gen.
Statistical studies show that if only one more man had stayed in australia instead of moving overseas 22 years ago, australian rugby would stiĺl be No1 in the world.
So, James Wilson, how does is feel to be totally responsible for the decline of australian rugby?
@@jungbolosse3034 lol. You spent a lot of time on that one eh! Obviously not what I’m saying smart ass. 👏
@@JamesWilson-ts5xkThanks James. We've been looking for you. So you're the guy who left? We would have won in 2003 if it weren't for you! 😂
@@fcukugimmeausername I guess so…it’s a conspiracy. 🤣
It's the end of 20 years of neglect. 20 years of poor administration. 20 years of poor technical coaching!!!!!! how about Fiji PLAYING BETTER AND BEING THE BETTER TEAM
Why was Fiji the better team? 20 years of neglect, poor administration, technical coaching etc… on the Australian side.
I mean, a lot of this has to come down to Australia taking themselves out from within. The fact they have won 2x World Cups and were a complete powerhouse until the last decade when they slowly started to wane. It's clearly more to do with how Australia have their own inner problems, not that that's any excuse for the fact Fiji were better on the day.
@@conorcahill5422 that’s exactly the point the guy was making. Australia has suffered decades of neglect and slow self-destruction.
Ego's don't make a team
Todays result was a combination of both. Fiji have pulled off their best ever performances recently. Australia have undoubtedly gone way backwards and have been for a while.
Bula Fiji 🇫🇯 very impressive 👊keep it going✊️much respect🖤from NZ😝
I wonder how Hamish McLennan is feeling right now. Rennie should send him a 'thinking of you' card.
I miss the great nz vs aus tight rivalry we use to have when we meet. 20 years holding onto the bledisloe cup is way too long for nz. I Hope Australian rugby gets back to its former glory and reignite that nz/aus tight rivalry
More like NZ will go downhill then Australia will have more chances in Bledisloe 🤣
Give Fiji some credit man. Played phenomenal rugby. Well balanced team with a mobile forward pack to compliment a star studded backline. Pasika rugby is on the come up 🔥
Yep they were one pass from qualifying for the next round already
They did give credit to Fiji. Why don't you watch the video before commenting on it?
Give credit to Eddie for ruining Wallabies
This sits on Eddies selection… Michael Hooper, Pete Samu, Quade Cooper, Len Ikitau, Reece Hodge and Andrew Kellaway all sitting around watching Aussie lose. Then he talks after the game about it being a young team like he had no other choice. Does anyone remember how good Cooper, Kerevi, Ikitau and Kellaway were as a backline? It’s not like those players have disappeared off the planet.
Agree! you need the older heads with experience in the crucial games particularly.This Australian team is young and it showed today.Hooper and all of the other discarded Wallabies would of made a huge difference to the team today.Well played Fiji.
Don’t forget Folau lol
Noah lolasio
This sits on Australian rugby big heads that only care to invest money in grass roots for th3 NRL.. no one besides a handful of countries care for rugby league.. the world watches rugby union... invest in rugby union.. League is for pussys who can't make it big in rugby union...
Even if they all played Fiji would still win 😂
Jones never ceases to disappoint.
Well played Fiji. Very good team
Matt Williams speaks the truth - as a Kiwi living in Australia -heavily involved in local club rugby - it's a fucking wasteland. Rugby Australia has gone out of their way to destroy the game here.
I like to see the small island nation do good in big games. Well done Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.
Rennie would've def never let that happen😂
Rennie lost to Italy 😮
@@timulcoq with b team🤡
Well done Fiji 🇿🇦
🇫🇯
@@johnmc3862 👏❤️
Very disrespectful to imply losing to Fiji is a total disaster. This is *not* the same old Fiji from the 2000s and the 90s. Fiji are playing in Super Rugby, they are playing in top French clubs and they are fantastic athletes with great technical skills.
Exactly.....The way they talk about Fiji is as if they are some random team who just started playing rugby....They said the same thing in Fiji vWales, talking about how wales game was horrible but hardly gave credit to how well Fiji played. And now that Fiji won against Aus they still can't believe it even though Fiji have been slowly improving in past test matches. It's difficult for them to accept that they were outplayed and outclassed😂
I think you gents miss the point. Australia are a two-time World Cup champion and now what are they? They’ve been on the decline for a generation, death by a thousand cuts, left in the dirty by rugby league. The game is dying in Australia, and this era is proving that.
Very disrespectful 🤣
Who cares. Wallabies are shit. Very stupid of you to assume winning against shit team is something special
Ah yes, the Wallabies never cease to disappoint.
Huge respect to fiji.
I moved to Aus from South Africa. Australia will never be top again, the support for NRL and AFL is too big . Very few care about rugby union and such there is very little ground root development.
Game is terrible at the local level - kids don’t care and private school boys prefer talking about league than union even though that’s what they play
This Aussie agrees with you
Didn't Samoa beat them like 8 years ago?
Yes they did and that was a much better Australia team! That was more of an upset then Fiji winning as a lot of people had fiji winning
Yes Samoa beat Australia in the Test Match. RWC is a different atmosphere altogether
@@sdelectiontaskforce3068 I understand different atmosphere but Australia are trash and have been trash for some time soo it wasn’t unexpected! Atmosphere or not Fiji have looked by far the better team leading up to rwc and deservedly so
And that team was better than now
@nzchrisvaughan *12 years ago
Not an Aus fan one bit, but i can 100% agree with neglect, Aus was a team to feared as much as us, boks NZL and Eng back in the hayday.
I think you can add England to the list of Australia and Wales who've seen a structural decline in their rugby.All three countries need a radical overhaul to avoid being left behind.
The main problem for rugby union in Australia, it's that this sport is ranked 5th in popularity, behind, in this order: Australian Football, Rugby League, Cricket and Soccer. For decades, this main problem of rugby union in Australia, was hidden under the carpet, because of some great players coming from Rugby League, or because many young Australians learned basics of rugby because of this sport. Which is some kind of a sport brother of Rugby Union. There's no other pair of team sports, that you are able to get players from one sport into another sport with such an ease. In the past, until mid 1990s, despite popularity, the rugby sports were not even professional around the world, they were all amateur, or at most semi-professional. Rugby union, simply started to look like a real professional sport, in 2000s. The real decline of Australia rugby union came after winning silver in 2015 World Cup. Now all big nations in rugby union are 100% professional, with rugby union being more (or much more) popular than rugby league(e.g. S. Africa doesn't even compete in Rugby League World Cups), so the details related to the differences in the 2 rugby codes are now much more visible in the final performance. It's simply not possible anymore for Australia, to take some good Rugby league players overnight, paying them well, to make a competitive good rugby union team.
Rugby in Australia still too tied to Private Schools. Talent there selected too early - big boys given scholarships rather than talented boys - then Rugby League poaches them with what seems like big money to an 18 year- old, There is no structure to keep rugby players playing rugby.
Here’s some comments about Eddie Jones from John Connelly (ex wallabies coach that took over coaching from 2006-2007 with a 64% win record vs Eddie Jones record from 2001-2005 of 57.89% win record):
Eddie Jones is a a 'charlatan'.
John Connolly succeeded Jones when the outspoken rugby coach left his post as Wallabies coach in 2006, having guided the Aussies over a four-year spell.
Jones went on to coach the Japanese and English national teams before making a return to the Wallabies earlier this year, but after losing to South Africa and Argentina in his first two games in charge, Connolly fears the appointment is a backwards step.
'How did we end up with Eddie again? He is full of it. He talks a great game but plays a terrible one,' Connolly, who labelled the comeback a 'bloody disaster', told the Telegraph
'He is a charlatan, he is a failed selector. He was the captain's pick by the chairman who just came into the job.
When I took over from Eddie, the players were like beaten down sheepdogs. If you walked in a room they would have their heads down and were scared to do anything.
'There was no leadership. There was no development. It was a total void that took nearly a year to rebuild. I can't believe we have made the same mistake again.'
Shame on the ARU for kicking out Rennie on his backside. Pack of crooks.
Bring back Rennie
They are crooks, I agree - crooks in suits.
@@footyfin cheers bud
The issue is in the 1970s the sporting market in Australia was in a place where it was possible for the revival of the wallabies and to get the public interest back. The fact is, Australia has the most bloated winter sports market in the world and rugby Union is at the bottom of the heap, below AFL, NRL, soccer now, etc. - everything is against them, the lack of playing stocks, the lack of money, the lack of interest. Unless something radical is done the wallabies may well be done forever from being a tier 1 nation. People overseas really don’t understand how dire it is (and has been for the last 10 years).
I like Union but it’s hard to follow it in a state like Victoria. There are no local clubs when I was kid 10 years ago and everyone is more interested in NFL now. 😂
I think you’re mostly right but theres two reasons for hope, Eddie Jones and RWC in 27’
Jones is copping it now but I think he’s been seeing this cup as a writeoff while he builds a solid team. Jones is a scholar of the game and is probably the best coach in the world to take a team from the bottom to the top. If he can get the wallabies upto Eales/Gregan era 99-2003 level form in time for the 2027 cup, possibly with a bledisloe in between it will revive the game In Aus.
But it has to happen. If it doesn’t by then all bets are off. Nothing will save it and Union is truly finished in this country.
There's no lack of money ... just lack of management and development strategies.
Tough times for Aussie sport.Yesterday lost 50 over cricket series against SA.Know they will bounce back as Aussies are very resilient.
Fiji had a great goal kicker!
Valid comments. What we also saw today is that without Skelton and Tupou the engine room of the Wallabies fell apart and destructured the team. 18 penalties suggests a lot of pressure applied at the breakdown. Fiji won by punting the ball after penalties, but were dominant in every play. Not many positives for the Wallabies and they should have been up for this game. Skelton will be out and that means the Wallabies are up against it with Wales. Definitely the Wallabies worst game recently. I support Eddie Jones revival with new players though did not anticipate the intensity of the pain in this era.
Even if Skelton or Tupou,still Fiji would have won,they feared no one today..They learnt how to punish the Austalians from their Pacific brothers Samoa and that is to smash with bone jaggling tackles..😅😅😅😅😅
Maybe blooding new players should come post WC not pre WC.
Australia is already a Tier 2 Rugby Nation.
Correction, Fiji is now a tier 1 nation.
No It is a T 1 but if you stop with this T1,T2 the Game is going to grow faster, no other sport use that clasist victorian staff.
Haha. Aus not out yet. be positive. Go Fiji Go
Wow, Australia in real danger in this World Cup!
For once I agree with Matt. No player role models, no interest in the game already competing with other codes. Sad if you look at the facilities they have. The best in the world. Also look at the wallabies- looks like they have been trying to entice talent from Fiji, Tonga etc rather then actually build from school boy level. Finally leaving Hooper at home was stupid. He is actually a role model and a fantastic player
Hooper and Cooper would be laughing
quade would hav ebeen good for leadership
Agree so much competition from other codes. Union unheard of in Vic SA other southern states.
@@skywarp_777unfortunately AFL and league are globally weak its really only aussies that get into those games
Woooooooo
It was madness leaving Michael Hooper at home. Through thick and thin, he has been the one Wallaby player you could always count on to show up and give 100%, no matter the circumstances. An inspirational leader, one of the best openside flankers of the modern era, and they leave him behind.
Beyond stupid.
Growing rugby in the Pacifica will prevent NZ from harvesting a talent pool they've been sucking dry for decades.
You wait till you see the Wales result 😂😂😂
New Zealand is in the same predicament, collapsing financially and in deep, deep trouble. The writing has been on the wall for a number of years, but very few people won’t to see it. Falling participation numbers, families not allowing their kids to play. A drastically changing ethnicity base within New Zealand has seen to this as more kids wanting to play other sports.
Look at the studies that have been undertaken by the likes of football organisations who have grave concerns around young kids heading a football, good grief and you wonder why parents are stopping them playing rugby?
Clubs collapsing under the strain of trying to cover the costs of running an NPC match at a stadium (hundreds of thousands per game) while a couple of hundred turn up to watch. Many rural folk may tell you otherwise but the reality is far, far different in the larger urban areas around New Zealand. The sport is dying……
Up the Wah's :D
Irish poster here: could you expand on your points about parents not allowing kids to play and the changing ethnicity base? Genuinely interested, please and thanks.
@@TheLastAngryMan01 Parents are simply not allowing their kids to play rugby. Over the last 20 years, there has been a rapid ethnic shift in New Zealand. These ethnic groups are simply not interested in the sport, furthermore they’re placing more importance on academic achievements over Rugby. You also have the lower socioeconomic groups hanging their hopes on professional rugby contracts. Participation numbers are dropping year on year. Ironically the biggest participation sport amongst youth by FAR! is football. NZ Rugby is in deep trouble.
@@fabmanly1070 Thank you for your reply. Is there any particular reason that parents are turning their kids away from rugby? Safety concerns or something like that? I’m guessing that European Kiwi parents are the group on question here.
@@TheLastAngryMan01 Europeans are just but one ethnic group in this. Asian is the major group, including countries like China, India, Philippines, Korea, Indonesia………. And then add to this mixed families from Asian groups as well and you have a massive new generation of people who are unwilling to put kids into this sport. Basketball, Football is huge and growing. Auckland with a relatively large slice of the countries population is the driving force behind new sports and opportunities where kids are just not interested in what is looked upon as an archaic pastime.
Why would you put your kid in a sport where they will get pummeled, the world has moved on. Rugby in its current guise will not be played into the next century. International organisations are already calling for a ban on youth to stop heading the ball in Football! Yet kids are going out and smashing themselves up in rugby.
I predict rugby to have another 50-70 years left, before it’s looked upon as utter madness. People will look back in absolute horror at 100 year old footage of idiots’ smashing into each other, but that’s a whole different debate.
Yes families are pulling there kids out from rugby in massive droves. The numbers are scary, New Zealand will simply not have a sustainable player base to continue, moreover spectators are not interested.
Fiji will always be thankful to Australia for fighting to put our Drua team in the NRC and also in the super rugby. It really helped grow local players who are in the Drua, now in this world cup team boosting performance in this world cup and mixing it up with other Fijian players who play professional rugby in Europe, the end result speaks for itself.Go Wallabies 🇦🇺🐨!!!! Fight is not over yet in this world cup.
Matt Williams pretty much summed up Aussie rugby woes that one wonders why league has always had the upper hand on the grassroots.
It’s pretty simple…the best rugby footballers in Australia play the other code!!
Austrlia would win the WC without raising a sweat...but all our elite players are playing League and Aussie Rules
@@jnic2165 imagine how piss weak All Blacks would be if they had their schools playing Aussie rules and rugby league!!
Well bounce back strong together 🇳🇿🇦🇺
Keep in mind A fijian winger in the Australian team scored a try for Australia, Koroibete prevented a try by Habosi and Kerevi created a try for Australia😂😂
Same winger was responsible for Fiji try and gifted turnovers to Fiji along with kerevi 🤣. Yeah dumb Jones likes dumb Fijians. The only good one is koroibete yes he's a beast
Come on Wallabies. Support from Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬
Matt Williams is bang on Australia had the best ball play and backline moves in world rugby they forced All Blacks to level up. Gone are the days of Gregan, Larkam, Joe Roth John Eales etc to name a few, that's the true Australian rugby identity that's completely disappeared over the years it's sad to see because it was such beautiful rugby to watch.
@samhaizelman7404 I said above "to name a few" ffs you want me to write every single wallabies legend on a UA-cam comment lol
Eddie's appt was a panic move and it really showed against a very talented commited Fiji group
The kicking at crucial moments was embarrassing
The problem with Australian grassroots is the NRL have scouts out at those games and are poaching like crazy.
good point trent3727,...also NRL have a much stronghold via social media & media in general !
Yeah but that's an Australian issue. Need to sort that out, countries like Fiji Samoa and Tonga don't have the luxury like you guys do.
@@Chess323 NRL has scouts in Fiji, too.
It’s a Private School sport. That’s all you need to know.
@mckennageno7053 not in NZ everyone can play whatever they want, and that's how it should be!! Go the WAHs!
ITS TIME to accept that other once considered minnow nations, are catching up with, and even surpassing tier 1 rugby nations, and I think it's down to the success of things like the rugby sevens program
Saffa here, advice to Australia, build high school rugby into something massive.
In South Africa there isn’t much between high school and national side for interest and passion. My 10 cents.
Easier said than done aussies are into AFL and league even cricket its like telling safas to start building a league team
Woooooooo
I hope not SA rugby must be the most boring on the planet and should be avoided at all cost. Forward driven drival.
Bro here in Australia we are not a rugby union nation. All of our talent goes to the NRL. Hence why rugby league here is 10x bigger than union. The NRL knows how to develop and produce high level players. They only people who get a chance in union, are the private school kids. Rugby League and AFL are played in nearly every public school here, and it’s free not like union. So you can kind of see which pathways are more clear for up and coming players.
They only care about rugby league here buddy.. they only invest grass roots rugby league.. as they think rugby league is the future 😂😂😂😂
Literally a handful of teams play rugby league.. LOL rugby league is like playing play play rugby 😂😂😂 it's for pussys who can't make the big leagues in Europe and south Africa
Wales grass roots is in a dreadful place, masked by relative international success. If your a rugby man in Wales you know we are heading for if not already a tier2 rugby nation. Best outcome this world cup is not to get out of tne group. Sounds like the same is happening in Oz.
Wallabies were never criticised, always protected, seriously virtually nobody in Australia cares about rugby, always was a rich kids sport, now there in the world spotlight and everyone sees how pathetic they really are.
So, how does this analysis equate with their hammering by Wales? If Wales is in the mire, where are Autralia?!
Imagine how we South Africans felt when we lost to Japan 😂 At least Fiji are certified ballers. They outplayed Australia and are going to beat other big teams too
Whoever didn’t see this coming is blind…….. Eddie Jones is not the saviour of Australian Rugby, band aid solution at best & shouldn’t be blamed for this….😳😳😳🏉😖
He’s a very naughty boy.
@@Dreynonice reference 😂
He's not a solution he's a problem
“People not listening” camera cuts to old mate missing an ear 😂😂
😂
As it turns out, they could sink lower…
Wait until he watches tonight's game
"loss of inter-generational knowledge" -brilliant
Australia and Australians simply don't care about Rugby Union. We care more about League as that is what we grow up with it's sad considering who Australia were say 30 years ago but those days are gone.
Yeah, that is said every time the Aussies get their butt kicked. Time to play another cracked record.
@@TheTheotherfoot You're right. 🙂 We can always claim that we just won morally 😂😂😂😂
Having watched and supported the Wallabies since the 1987 world cup, I have never seen such a woeful preparation and tactics. Everyone was hailing Eddie as the Messiah for Aussie rugby and none of them can be found now. I've watched grass roots rugby wither and die. Proud old rugby clubs close and no money to develop against league constantly poaching talent. And what does rugby australia do - pay millions to bring them back - for this. There are hundreds of young guys and girls who would give anything to play rugby as a career and represent their country, but they have to go to league to have any chance. Nearly 2 million Sydneysiders have no proper rugby structure in place and no support. AFL, league, soccer, basketball and every other sport is poaching. I love seeing the passion in Fijian rugby. They play for each other and their country. While our chattering private school city suit financial types hold meetings and wonder why it is all going wrong. Maybe they will apologise to Dave Rennie. More likely Putin would apologise to Ukraine than that ever happening.
Everyone?
@@williamgilliland8923 I do stand corrected. Those with any rugby nous stood back and went - not Eddie again! 😉
Brilliantly said!
It's no surprise that Fiji beat Australia....they beat England and should have beaten Wales.
To be honest Fiji play a brand of footy with their physics and agility.
Obviously alot of countries and club rugby have your typical Fijian on the wing. Also look at our sevens. Fijians play a different brand of footy.
Let's Go Fiji. 🇫🇯
It's not just about administrators ignoring grass roots. It's also about appointing a rubbish national coach. Rennie was making progress, and Eddie has come along and destroyed everything. The Wallabies are gonna be flat out beating Portugal.
If Eddie and Hamish survive this trainwreck, there'll be no hope for Australian rugby, and we might as well gift the Bledisloe to Aotearoa for the next hundred years.
Matt Williams is right. But here's the truth: Australia have the player stocks and talent. And once they get rid of Eddie, Matt Williams and Nucifora can go home and reform the system even more. Look at what Ireland have done - with a strategy, resources, and a sharp focus on youth development, the turn around has clearly been hard work but the results speak for themselves. The Wallabies will be back.
Fiji playing unreal rugby.
Australia too focused on League and Aussie rules, union just isn't a priority.
yeah - kudos to Matt, even when Australia lose you can find a way to kick Wales! Good for you, mate.
Jesus man, he's not having a go at the players. He's giving out about the unions themselves, and the state of disarray they've allowed the country's systems to fall into.
He's not wrong either, unfortunately.
Australia has tumbled from a SH powerhouse because the ARU have neglected grassroots for the better part of a decade, blowing *insane* money at top level instead to entice talent to switch from other codes.
The WRU have mismanaged things so badly, that several of the Welsh players didn't know if they'd even have a club to play for at the end of the 6N.
2 traditionally strong rugby nations brought low because of incompetence and short-sightedness. Can't blame him for giving out about it. It's sad to see.
@@elainec6687 Yeah - I don't disagree with yr big picture view, but pay attention to the way in which Irish rugby commentary always finds a way... irrespective of what happens on the field, somehow, somewhere... those Welsh guys just suck at rugby. Even when they lose they don't lose right!
@@elainec6687 all 4 pundits here are idiots
@@stueyapstuey4235prejudices always shine through mate.
Irish are salty about the Welsh 😂
All Blacks supporter here.
Fiji, Tonga, Samoa are getting better and better through tough competition.
It’s only a matter of time before they beat the All Blacks.
hehehehe "the Fijian coach deserves all the credit he gets, born and bred in Sydney"
nice little reminder there for the rest of you in the world, the Fijian coach is born and bred Aussie, thats where he learnt the game so well, the Aussies have dropped the ball over the last decade or so, as this fella says
Give credit where it's due guys. This hypocrisy and bias to the utmost. You see this in every sport now. Countries are focusing and funding more to this sport and the players are buying in. More attention to diet health and fitness. The competition is fierce. Fiji played amazing and that's why they won. Don't discard it even in the nicest way. Unacceptable as a Fijian. Shame on you guys. Go Fiji Go...uro...
🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🎉🎉Well done Fiji!!!! 👏🏾 (from a loving Boks fan!)... Fiji has become such a force in rugby, its really amazing to watch you guys play! This was a well-earned win!
This was one short clip of longer coverage, don't worry, they spoke very highly of Fiji!
In fact, after the Fiji- Wales game, they were VERY upset with the result. They admitted they were Fiji fans to Alun Wyn Jones 😂
Matt is an Aussie, which is why he was asked him about them here. The others are Irish (2 are former players), and know well what it's like to be a smaller nation fighting to match up to the bigger, traditional powerhouses! They fully appreciated what Fiji achieved here 😊
Us Irish have been madly cheering Fiji on! Uruguay, Chile, and the other smaller nations too. It's fantastic to see them doing so well overall, and they've produced some BRILLIANT rugby 🤩 They're a joy to watch.
Congrats on such a great win, and best of luck for the rest of the tournament! 🏉🏆
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. there's more than enough backline players in Aus union, there is just no attack or defense on the front. the players that need to be selected in NRL are top players who can adapt in the scrum and cover loose forwards or locks. not so much the backs because they always start well but have no front. set that up and wallabies back line will have a calmer scrum half that a fly half can play of, a backline cohesion to fire of that fly half, move quick into space with opposition back peddling on pressure. defensive rucks, counter rucking, ball hunting and breakdown control. if NRL and ARU work together to find these players the wallabies will match the top 3 powerhouse easy imo, they're still solid tho
Completely agree continually buying NRL players an not investing in grass roots is resulting in Wallabies slide .
On the other side Fiji Drua in super rugby is now coming to fruition .
First Stage: Denial 😂
Aus isn’t that bad. As a South African you still beat us regularly. New coach. We have just been building for years. Every side goes through rough patches. Before Rassie we where ranked like 7th or something
How are the new group of people in charge of Australian Rugby doing the right thing? They literally just spent millions on poaching a NRL player.
Fiji just played great rugby. Hopefully the events of their Wales encounter doesn't deny them entry into the QF's. I am starting to think that South Africa not playing Super Rugby any more is hurting the game played by Australia and NZ. They brought the best out of each other and now its like a 3 legged table that is missing ne of its legs.
South Africans like to think that but Australia started declining 10-15 years ago while New Zealand has been declining since 2017 when Ian Foster joined the coaching group.
22 - 8 to be honest. Some weird opportunistic try based on rugby league rule inclusion doesn’t really represent the beating the Aussies received. Official score 22 - 15. “Representative” score 22 - 8. Well done Fiji. I’m hoping they exit the pool and give the Springboks the same treatment.
I’ve been following rugby from NZ for almost 50 years and recently with the world cup I’ve been watching a few more international rugby shows for their interviews etc. Who is Matt Williams? I’ve never heard of him before. Suddenly I’m seeing him on Irish tv panels and the guy can barely string a sentence together.
😭😭😭😭more even proud to be Fijian. The years of unfairness. Now humbleness and striving forward is the way forward
These critics have truly identified the problem just as the calling of Mr. E. Jones to try put some magic in a 20 yrs fallout as mentioned.. Let's see the professional players workout strategies to beat Wales and make a quarter final spot even to the finals. Fiji usually play semi professional. Now Australia has helped a lot in Fiji's transition to professionalism. Most in Fiji are Wellabies fans. Let's support them. Last RWC Japan beat South Africa. Upsets is healthy and bad refereeing is sick. Go Australian Wellabies go.
I think this was the point that Matt Williams started referring to Ireland as his own I.e. we, us etc. 😂
Full credit to Fiji, but I disagree its the worst loss in Australian RWC history. The loss to England in the '07 quarter-final was far worse.
I think Fiji is a Tier 2 nation that is why fans think way. Gone are those days. In Fiji right now Rugby is more than just a sport. I hope the Aus make a come back against wales. Aus and NZ are our big brothers. Anyways Fiji need that win. Go Fiji Go.
He has made some important points
When you run out of innovation, the competition simply starts to catch up and level out. Its equilibrium at work. Same thing that's going on with other previously dominant teams at the moment. There was one converted try in it, quit the doom and gloom. Wanna go back to being 'great', then innovate!
Don't forget Fiji owes Australia big...it is the Aussies who supported & pushed for Fiji b included Super Rugby (Drua), & also 4 the women's rugby.
Worse was yet to come. 🤣
Until its played in government state schools, because that's where the best talent always comes from whatever sport it is, Australia will just be overtaken and slip down the world standings.
Losing to the AB all the time cant be good for the confidence.
ABs aren't even good anymore lol. Better than playing constantly against SA, Iré, and France would never get close to winning against them.
@@thomasrodwell563ABS are better than Australia that's for sure. Aussie rugby union is rubbish now. 😅
@@thomasrodwell563And yet the All Backs will make the quarter finals. Not very good.😂😂😂
To be fair, Australia beat Wales and ran Ireland close in the autumn internationals last year, with their young team I thought they might be gradually building something. But they seem to have gone backwards in the meantime.
I agree with Matt 100%
RA executives reside in corporate luxury at Moore Park. Yet some panel/expert/pen pusher defunded Australian Schools Rugby 10 years ago. This foundation stone of Australian Rugby was defunded and the conveyor belt of top class Wallabies ceased. Just one of the many nails in the coffin of RA.
"Its the worst defeat in Australian history" Hold on. Next minute. I spoke too soon
Carter Gordon had a real tough one against Fiji can anyone enlighten me as to why they left quade out of the squad seems to me if they brought someone like him with exp on they could’ve steadied the ship abit? 🤷♂️
Because the shot clock would have killed Quade
Because Eddie Jones decided to blood younger talent for the British & Irish Lions tour in 2025 and The Rugby World Cup in 2027 so he discarded a lot of experienced players, most notably Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper, Jed Holloway, Tom Wright, Len Ikitau, Reece Hodge and Pete Samu. Eddie said he wanted to change the team and part of that was changing the leadership.
Replace Australia with England and this would be the same.
Its the same with football. All the players know play all around the world with the best clubs . So the standards of each player are pretty similar.
Nah old timer, Fijian usos just outplayed a tier 1 team😂 CHEEEEHOOOO!!!
Dunedin NZ 23-20 Australia just over a month ago, then be called a bad side.
How can Australia nearly beat NZ just over a month ago then be called the worst Aussie teams.
This Aussie team are a good side but the celts have a superb league with Bok teams now as well, that’s why Wales were No.1 last WC and Ireland are No1 side now in the world and Scotland are a good side also.
What a pain to listen to. The facts show the better team won. That why we have a World Cup to separate the sheep from the boys.
It was not a shock at all. I expected Fiji to win. Fiji is full of top players who are playing in the French Top 14 and the Prem.
Dark day for Australian rugby
Folks
Fiji deserved praise for winning and I agree that they should have won against Wales - many poor refereeing calls there.
However, the state of Australian rugby is a separate matter and it has been in the doldrums for some time.
I'm not pointing the bone at any one group but things have deteriorated to the point where it is affecting my interest in Australian rugby.
Administration in the game has been a long-standing issue and is multi-faceted and will only be seriously addressed when the parties involved put aside self-interest, factionalism and even pettiness in their approach.
It is sad that many human beings are only prepared to change when they are largely forced to.