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France captain Fabien Galthie  © Getty Images
France captain Fabien Galthie

FRA v FIJ: What they said

11/10/2003

 

France coach Bernard Laporte on the 61-18 victory:

"It was a great pleasure for us.  We owe a lot of congratulations to our team.  The game was not easy. We beat them four years ago, but we had to reassess because they had good qualities as well."

On the incident that led to a double yellow card:

"We were lucky to see the video so we saw that it was something that was unacceptable, and it's impossible for the referee to see everything.  And it's not good with the exposure we get in the media."

On his team's performance:

"A good combination of players and it worked out.  It doesn't always work out."

France captain Fabien Galthie on the lead up to the World Cup and this game:

"It took us three months of preparation and we had our ups and downs in that time.  Especially with the opening today we needed to assert ourselves, and it was not without risk because the Fijian team was hard to beat.  We needed to score four tries."

Tony Marsh on the team's performance:

"Today we were fortunate enough to get a bit of space and get a bit of ball ... we can be very satisfied with this game."

Manager Jo Maso on taking tonight's incidents to the Citing Commissioner:

"I asked the referee if he saw anything else and he said he hadn't.  I don't think it's the right moment this early in the tournament to start anything."

Fiji coach Mac McCallion on Fiji's discipline:

"I'm pretty disappointed with it, there's no doubt about it.  It's one of the things that let us down today along with turnovers and missed tackles."

On Fiji eventually falling out of contention in the match:

"It wasn't until 10 minutes before halftime that we lost our composure.  I thought we might get back into it, but again the penalties came into it."

On his efforts to instil more discipline into Fijian rugby:

"I think they are getting better slowly, but at this level against teams like the French they will punish you and they did.  It's one area I've been trying to work on since I've been coaching Fiji."

On possible further repercussions on Rupeni Caucau's (FIJ) yellow card for punching:

"I think it's been dealt with, he was yellow-carded and spent 10 minutes in the 'bin'.  I hope that's where it remains."

"I think he's paid the penalty and it ends there."

On the Fijian's match fitness:

"They tend to play for 20 minutes, then drop off and then they recover."

On any possible changes to training for Wednesday's match against the United States of America after such a heavy loss:

"They're going to go out there and do the hard yards again ... it doesn't alter the training program at all."

Fiji captain Alifereti Doviverata on upcoming preparations:

"We'll have a recovery session tomorrow and will just look forward to the next one."

Seru Rabeni on the French back play:

"As the French did, it's a lot easier for them (backs) to do the job when the forwards are doing it up front."

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