I've told the players to reflect on themselves - Nakarawa

“Keep talking”

This was a key message being yelled out by Fiji Airways Flying Fijians Senior Assistant Coach Tabai Matson as the team went through their captain’s run at Albert Park this morning ahead of their World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup match against Canada.

The training session which lasted for one and half hours saw Matson work with the run-on backline for tomorrow’s game.

He also spent time working with goal kickers Josh Matavesi and Ben Volavola as well the new midfield combination of Semi Radradra and Jale Vatubua.

The backline players also worked on the clean execution of passes while Assistant coaches Alan Muir and Neil Barnes spent time working on the line-outs with the forwards.

Speaking after the training session, Captain Leone Nakarawa says improving the players communication on the field is an area they are continuously working on.

Nakarawa says he told the boys last week after their loss to Japan that they need to reflect on themselves and the team to move forward.

Flying Fijians Coach John McKee thinks Canada will try to play directly and keep the game contained against them tomorrow.

Pacific Nations Cup table

Fiji is the defending champion of the Pacific Nations Cup.

Fiji is in pool A with USA and Tonga and is currently in last place with zero points. USA leads pool A with 5 points.

Japan leads pool B with 5 points which also has Samoa and Canada.

The Pacific Nations Cup is played in a cross pool format with each team playing 3 games.

According to the format, Fiji has games against Japan, Canada and Samoa.

The winner of the tournament will be the team who records the maximum number of competition points across the tournament schedule.

History between Fiji and Canada

Fiji and Canada have played each other 12 times and Fiji leads the head to head 9-3.

Fiji enjoyed their biggest win over Canada (57‑17) the last time the sides met in Narbonne in November 2017.

Canada’s last win in the fixture came in 2013.

The Flying Fijians will play Canada at 5.15pm tomorrow at the ANZ Stadium and you can catch the live commentary on our sister station Viti FM on 92.2FM.