Live blogging this real quick – You owe me a beer for this Sharky ^_^
For those not in the know and reading this at the time of publishing, press F5 now and then to refresh the post to get an update of the game as it progresses.
3:27: Holy crap a score to Fiji! Awesome run from the middle, score right near the posts.
Fiji 6 Ireland 0
7:37: Damnit. Crappy tackling along the wing from Fiji results in a quick score by Ireland on the far right side of the field. Conversation was surprisingly accurate.
Fiji 6 Ireland 6
11:42: Ooooh Hayne’s eyes weren’t on the ball, resulting in a forward ball right near Ireland’s scoreline. Eyes on the prize mate ><
14:50: Heart-breakingly close! Short chinese looking guy (i’ll get the name later i promise) for Fiji makes a break for the scoreline but gets held up right like 1 metre before the line and looses the ball to the Irish. More greens, more height XD
22:34: A knock on ball from Fiji right infront of the Irish scoreline again! Fiji’s got to stop with the silly mistakes if they want to move beyond the 6-6 scoreline that haunts my waking moment.
25:32: Talking about those silly mistakes, Fiji just gave away a penalty to Ireland after one of our players decided to wipe his elbow all over an irish player. Infront of all those cameras. And the referree. Smart. Penalty attempt was amiss, so scores remained the same. For now.
29:30: Golden boy Uate makes an absolutely brilliant try, slicing through the Irish defense and scoring right next to the posts. Wes converts the try easily.
Fiji 12 Ireland 6
35:52: Careless hands from a lame catch by one of the Fijian boys results in a score for the Irish. Been noticing this guy make quite a few mistakes. The pressure seems to be getting to him, a fact that he himself seems to acknowledge after knocking on the ball now and then. At least the conversation missed. Whew.
Fiji 12 Ireland 10
39:21: My heart did a few skips when a bad pass from a Fijian player skipped a few players hands, and finally landing with one of the irish fellows, only to get hammered by a bati tree with a bandage around his head. Irish guy walks off the field with a bleeding nose. I make a fist at the screen.
Half Time: Fiji 12 Ireland 10
Half Time Thoughts: Fiji’s playing a tad bit more composed then their last game in the first half against Scotland, though their fatigue/carelessness/ego is starting to show, with mistakes, dropped balls and uncompleted sets showing through. Ireland on the other hand seems like the more composed team, but like Scotland before them, lacks that defining oomph to make the tries that Fiji has, but is failing to play. However, if Ireland hangs in there with proper structured rugby, and Fiji continues on their way of penalty giveaways, this game might just go their way. History has a wierd habit of repeating itself. Here’s hoping the half time break will allow the coach some time to knock some sense back into the boys. From my point of view, Ireland should be a walkover, less of a challenge then say, that French team that was defeated, nay, decimated awhile back.
Fingers crossed we’ll see more of that infamous fijian flaire coming into play in the second half.
Second Half
43:23: Held up at the irish try line what a heart break! It looked like a score, but the fijian was gift wrapped all nice and proper – and holy crap Ireland nearly scored with a run from their half, if it wasn’t for the match saving tackle by Uate. God bless that kid. My heart can’t take anymore of this ><
51:23: Oooooh a chip kick from Fiji near the irish goal line and the ball goes rogue, defeating our chaser. Close one.
55:08: After a few false starts, and a few loose balls, Fiji finally adds a few points to the board! Fiji’s finally starting to show some builds, while Ireland’s starting to show a few cracks in their defense. Wes again with his precise kicking converts the try.
Fiji 18 Ireland 10
60:31: One irish player’s got his face mixed with blood and sweat. Gets sent off the field. Crunching fijian tackles are coming through, showing our spirit’s getting fired up.
62:53: A penalty from Ireland after trying to slow the ball down right near their scoreline results in a penalty kick by the ever sharp Wes. It’s on baby. On like Donkey Kong.
Fiji 20 Ireland 10
65:38: A beautiful, simply beautiful chip kick again through the irish defense, and golden boy Hayne grabs the ball, nearly tackles one of the goal posts, and makes the try. Video referring be damned ^_^ Wes again with the golden boot makes the conversion all too easy.
Fiji 26 Ireland 10
75:18: In the words of my uncle who was watching, “Uate ga me score,” “let Uate do the scoring”. And by jove he did, with several passes all the way to the wing where Uate was waiting, he managed to beat one defender to make it pass the scoreline. Aaaaand the conversion was denied with the ball seemingly on a one way trip towards the post. It’s safe to say that this match is pretty much in the basket.
Fiji 30 Ireland 10
79:30: With what looked like a forward pass by a fellow irish player, the Irish team makes a somewhat conselation try. The conversion misses AND ITS OVER!!!! HELL YEAH!!!! (Still have to get used to how prompt these rugby league referees are ><)
Final Score:
Fiji 30 Ireland 14
According to the commentators, we’re going into the semi-finals against Australia as ‘massive, massive underdogs’, but hey, at least we earned our passage to get there. A great game by Fiji, with their discipline, structure and support play, as well as good ol’ fijian spirit propelling them through to the much dreaded semi-finals against the All Blacks of Rugby League, Australia. Here’s to their impressive, if somewhat drubby win, and hope that they tie up the loose ends (loose tempers, messy passes, incomplete sets) before their game this upcoming Sunday.
GO FIJI GO!
#1 by Bellerophontes on November 10, 2008 - 10:23 pm
OMG!!!
So does that mean we won?
LAWL!
YAYAYAY \o/
#2 by Wilson on November 10, 2008 - 10:45 pm
woot yep we did win
Live blogging was interesting ><
#3 by Allen on November 10, 2008 - 10:51 pm
Ons Mama! ^__^
#4 by Bill on November 11, 2008 - 10:52 am
Wow!!Fiji really gave the ireland team a good coconut throwing game…the result of this led to the bandaging of the head of a number of Irish players!!The massive defence made by the bati really did spoiled the Irish flare.I love you guys!!coconati taka!!Ha ha ha ha!!!!!
#5 by Bill on November 11, 2008 - 10:54 am
Take that Ireland…thats what Kaiviti Power is known for!!!!!!
#6 by sharky on November 11, 2008 - 5:51 pm
effing great!! how bout next time you TELL me that you are live blogging!!! was checking updates on BBC website since i didnt get any emails from you…but er..thanks. still fun to read post game.
and more importantly…we won!!!!
When is the fiji -OZ game?
and yes, I still owe you a beer, regardless.
#7 by Wilson on November 12, 2008 - 9:23 pm
bleh – you know me, spur of the moment >.>