The Flying Fijians rugby team will go into their final Northern Tour match against France with renewed confidence after romping to a 68-7 victory over Uruguay at the weekend.
Looking to bounce back from a 54-17 defeat in Scotland, Fiji were too strong for an opponent they will meet against next year in the Rugby World Cup pool stage.
Former sevens star Eroni Sau starred on test debut for the Flying Fijians. Photo: AFP
Coach John McKee said it was a much improved all-round performance.
"The extra week together certainly you can see our team combinations gelling a lot better with the extra training sessions and also getting the players in the mindset of playing our style of game, which is a little bit different to what they're used to at their clubs," he said.
"Having that game after Scotland giving us a chance to try some new combinations and certainly Eroni Sau made his debut for the Flying Fijians - of course having played for the sevens team before - and scored three tries on debut so he was pretty impressive on the day.
"And also young hooker Mesulame Dolokoto, who's come through the Fijian Drua team that's played in the Australian NRC competition. He was on the bench against Scotland and got a start against Uruguay and played very well."
John McKee. Photo: AFP
Mr McKee said the Flying Fijians' third straight victory over Uruguay was an important statement against a team they will meet again in Kamaishi, Japan in 10 months time.
"It's really important for us in that game on the weekend to set down a marker for Rugby World Cup," he said.
"The thing for us on this November tour and the concern from a coaching perspective was that the players take their eye off the ball a bit in the Uruguay week and let their standards drop but that wasn't the case.
"We really made sure our training was at a high intensity and the pleasing thing for me in the game was the way we went on with it in the game. We didn't drop our standards, we played strongly right for the full 80 minutes and not only in attack," reflected McKee.
"Obviously we scored points but our defence was strong because there were times in the game where they had possession and were certainly prepared to move the ball around but our defence remained strong."
Fiji beat Uruguay at the 2015 World Cup and the teams will clash against in Japan next year. Photo: AFP
Centre Semi Radradra and number eight Viliame Mata are both available for selection against France in Paris after missing the match on the weekend.
In other Pacific results, matches Samoa let a 16 point lead slip to lose 27-19 in Georgia while Tonga were crushed 74-24 in Wales.
