Head coach Raiwalui & captain Nayacalevu discuss 30-24 loss to England

Reaction from Fiji head coach Simon Raiwalui and captain Waisea Nayacalevu following their 30-24 loss against England in the quarter-final at Stade de Marseille on Sunday, 15 October.

MEDIA CONFERENCE

Simon Raiwalui, head coach

On whether they were on the wrong side of the referee:

"There’s obviously decisions where they go 50-50. The referees do a brilliant job, it’s the hardest position and you’re isolated. Sure, there’s things that you contest, there’s things that maybe you don’t agree on, but first things first we had opportunities to score, we had opportunities to win the game.

"We’re a huge supporter of every facet of the game and that includes refereeing. They do a wonderful job. They don’t go out there to pick a team and have their favourites. Sometimes there’s mistakes, sometimes the rub of the green doesn’t go your way.

"It is important that we support them and not isolate them. I’m very appreciative of everything they do.”

On Fiji being more than just a team:

"We celebrate together, we suffer together. Sam (Mataevsi), whose father passed away recently) obviously came this week and (said) his dad fell gravely ill at the weekend. He was talking about staying but family is family. Family is always first in my life and our lives.

"We wanted to get him back. We knew he would get his role right. The team got around him. His brothers were over here, yesterday they were over to present his jersey which was a really touching moment. It shows the connection between the group.

"It’s more than a team, it really is a family and I think we will have a bond for the rest of our lives.”

On his pride and joy in the team and their performances:

"The pride’s never gone away, it’s there from the beginning until the day I die. These boys are family. Pride doesn’t disappear.

"The joy is there. For 15 weeks these boys have worked hard and we will celebrate that. We’re hurting now in terms of the result but I couldn’t be prouder of this group in terms of what they’ve put in. They’ve built something for the next generation of Fijian rugby players. They’ve laid a foundation.

"We’re hurting at the moment and it will hurt for a long time because it was something we had built and we thought we could go further.  The belief in the team has always been there. I’m bursting with pride."

On his message to the Fijians who watched the game around the world:

"Thank you to every supporter that we have here in France, worldwide, the 900,000 in Fiji that travelled distances to find wifi, to find a connection to watch us.

"We really feel that support since we came in together 15 weeks ago. We wanted to create something different, a connection back to our people, our supporters, and I hope we did them proud."

On captain Waisea Nayacalevu:

"He’s a good mate. He’s led right from the start when we had the campaign, he was a natural selection as captain. Both on and off the field he set the standards. I can’t say enough of him, as a player, as a man, other than that he’s a good friend. I’m super proud of him."

Waisea Nayacalevu, captain

On his overwhelming emotions:

"I’m quite emotional at the moment. A lot’s been happening during the week. I’m just proud of the boys, they turned up today. I just ask that we can have a fair decision like every team has, so we can play rugby, so everyone can enjoy the game."

On frustration with some of the decisions in the match:

"Yeah, I’ll be honest. I was frustrated with a few calls.

"They had already formed a ruck and then (Maro) Itoje just came in and grabbed onto the ball and there was no penalty there. Three times in the game."

On whether he feels referees have sub-conscious bias against smaller rugby nations:

"Absolutely. You guys watched the game, you guys can answer that."