Fiji's players huddle on the field before a training session. Photo / Reuters
CARDIFF - Forget about the normal kava bowls - Fijians are reaching for the finest drinking vessels to celebrate their team's run into the rugby World Cup quarterfinals.
That's the word from All Blacks winger Joe Rokocoko, proud that his country of birth was among the world's top
eight nations.
He expected interest would explode in the islands on Monday morning (NZ time) when Fiji take on South Africa in Marseille.
It would cap a week of celebrations since they toppled Wales to advance, bringing much needed joy to a nation which had been under military rule since a coup 10 months ago.
"Everyone's been having a few kava bowls," Rokocoko said.
"You normally have your normal cup of kava but you've got the old supreme cup.
"A few supreme cups have been going around a bit."
Rokocoko said he and fellow-winger Sitiveni Sivivatu were on the edge of their seats in the team room watching the Fiji-Wales game soon after the All Blacks beat Romania last weekend.
"Me and Siti were the most vocal guys in the team, cheering for the Fijian boys," he said.
"It was a proud moment, especially in Fiji and the situation of the coup.
"For the past three months or so it's been the highlight for most families in Fiji and around the world. It's a great occasion for them to be playing in the quarterfinals."
Rokocoko said Fiji's open, running approach against Wales should serve as an important reminder for All Blacks ahead of their own quarterfinal, against France here on Sunday.
It may be a knockout game but Rokocoko said retreating into their shell would be a huge mistake for a New Zealand team always trying to perfect their high-speed game.
"We can't afford to be scared to do things. It's important we play our normal game but be smart at the same time," Rokocoko said.
He believed the one recent example of the All Blacks not expressing themselves was the 15-20 loss to Australia at Melbourne in June - the only defeat in New Zealand's last 15 tests.
He said the lesson taken from that match was to always keep an attacking attitude.
"We kind of went into our shell in the last 10 minutes," Rokocoko said.
"We started to play safer. When we got the ball we wanted to get rid of it because we didn't want to do mistakes.
"That's not us. It's us having confidence in ourselves and knowing that we can score points and tries when needed."
- NZPA
