I laughed too

This ref is as whistle happy as the refs you see in junior games.
I watch a lot of lower grade games, so i'm no stranger to whistle happy refs, but I find it really frustrating.

Fiji lucky to get that. I thought Tariq touched it before Korbin - but it makes up for the one they should have got earlier.

What did he go to the screen for there?

Both looked off at the kick too

12 tries in 7 games for Fiji for Uate.

Uate is great.

Is Morris really better than him..?

yes. morris is better all round than Uate. is morris better than hayne? no.

Noilea is having a great game.
He is basically a Fiji based player.
He was great for them in the last world cup and got one season of reserve grade at Wests Tigers after that, but apart from that he has always been Fiji based.

Uate makes a few mistakes in defence and under the high ball - apart from that he is a mile ahead of Morris as a finisher.

Perhaps, but Aku craps all over Boyd as a winger, can't wait for Uate to bowl him over a few times later this week.

and in defense? but i agree he is the better attacker but even that at one point went a bit to pot.

Decent performance from Fiji but they wont be able to beat up on England and the Aussies before they start trying to play rugby

i didn't really like their attitude in that game to much bullying and not enough honest hard tackling.

Fiji can play better than that, but it's hard to see them getting a win over Australia or England.

Kevvy a well deserved MOTM. I've watched him play a lot of fullback in the NSW cup, and over the last two seasons he has developed a lot of playmaking skills, so it's no surprize to see him put Aku over for 2 tries.

The young Sims brothers are both better than Ashton and will probably both play SOO, but the odd thing is that Tariq plays in Queensland and has aligned himself with NSW for SOO, and Korbin plays in NSW and has aligned himself with Qld.

Koroibete hasn't got back to his best after his leg injury earlier this year.

Coach Stone gave his key players as much time off the field as he could and used the fringe guys a lot I thought. Petero in particular could have played a lot more minutes, and Kev Naiqama got a rest when the game was won.

Groome and Noilea really played much better than their history suggests they should. I suspect the coaches and trainers have put a lot of time into those two.

Just got back to the car and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a terrific occasion with both teams having good support (The vast majority were supporting Fiji though). The game was brutal in that first half but Fiji did overstep the mark on more then one occasion.

This World Cup really has got off to a terrific start though. The organisers must be thrilled.

Alright then.

The difference between these teams and cheap-shot merchants of the world most apparent in SL is staggering. Fiji and the rest of the Sea Islanders hit extremely hard, but also fair most of the time.

Dirty buggers were Fiji.......look forward to seeing them play in their next 2 games.

did i say they didn't tackle hard?

i said their was to much bullying or Sh*t housing if it helps you understand it more. even when they didn't put a big hit in they was carrying on after the tackle or when they got tackled.

I got a feeling they wanted to carry on were Samoa finish off yesterday but Ireland really couldn't get involved in that

Fiji v Samoa in the last QF will be EPIC

i got that feeling too.

Must admit when I first read that games would be staged at the likes of Rochdale & Workington I thought it seemed Mickey Mouse, but now it seems inspired. They may not be the flashiest of grounds, but seeing full grounds is much better than seeing a better stadium half-empty.

I thought Fiji dominated the game and deserved to win.
Ireland never gave up but were well beaten in the forwards and had nothing to offer in attack. Mendeika and Finn were poor, not surprising behind a beaten pack, but no excuse when attacking.

I loved the physical collisions but thought Fiji went completely OTT at times. It looks like they will try to disrupt England and the Aussies forwards in the same way.

Brett White is a well known grub and sledger.
He put a high shot on Korbin Sims early in the game and would have had a lot to say about it, as is his way.
The Sims brothers are all known as guys who will go toe to toe in a forward battle, and as usual White bit off more than he could chew.
To be honest, White and the Sims brothers are all pretty similar players - but it was three on one in this game.