The Battle of Bordeaux: How The Flying Fijians Lost The Game But Won The Fans
By James Nokise
No image, no video, no audio can do justice to what it was like to be in State de Bordeaux on Sunday night when Fiji took on Wales..
In a word, it was loud - electrically so. Imagine a packed to the rim, full blast, drums and all, Warriors game at Mt Smart stadium. Then double the noise because Mt Smart takes 25,000, and State de Bourdeaux had over 42,000 people cheering, singing, and flat out screaming all the way from 9pm for close to two hours.
There were many Fijian supporters, mostly French, but very few Fijians. Meanwhile an ocean of Welsh fans, with red tops, and slightly sunburnt red faces filled the majority of the stadium. The red dragon was everywhere, with just the occasional section of white tops and blue flags.
Those French Fiji fans weren’t just there to be nice though. Their appreciation for the France based Fijian players like captain Waisea Nayacalevu and superstar Semi Radradra was adamant from the roar that went up as they were introduced. The man known to fans as “Semi Trailor”, who hails from the island of Tavenui, which has less than half the population of the stadium, caused cheers of appreciation throughout the night with his powerful running.
Some Fijian fans came as groups, some as a family, and some just by themselves.
“I’m so blessed to be here, I’ve come all the way from England, from Oxford” said Fijian fan Lorima, travelling alone with his black backpack, a tiny Fiji flag sticking out the back.
“I’m making history for me, to come and watch the world cup. Hopefully Fiji will win, it’s a good team”
“This is my 6th world cup, I’m getting sick and tired of watching Fiji and Wales. We want another team in the draw next time.” says some other Fijian fans who have asked not to be identified because one of them called in sick to work!
Some Swiss rugby fans of the Fiji team have come across for the match. “Bula Fiji!” they scream.
“Bula! Bula! Bula! Bula! Bula! Bula!!” Scream slightly intoxicated French fans, and it’s not quite clear if either group knows how the word actually works. But their joy at supporting Fiji is genuine. They will cheer the players till their lungs are tired, and then probably have another beer and attempt to cheer some more.
“There’s a little bit of Fijian in everybody” laughs Fijian fans Esaroma and Simione. “Fiji’s gonna win.”
Fiji does not win the game. They deserved to though, and only the most die-hard Welsh fan would argue against that.
What cameras can’t really show you, is how the attitude of the entire crowd, both Fijian and Welsh fans, shifted from “this will be a good match” to “this is a proper Test match” to “this is a great Test match” to “this is one of the greatest Test matches” to “I’ve just been part of something special.”
Throughout the night there were passionate but small chants of Fiji, that gradually built till almost the entire stadium was echoing the cry “Fiji! Fiji! Fiji!”
Go take a look at a match report and you’ll see it was a close first half, then Wales pulled away, then Fiji almost caught them. Almost. What you won’t see is that, at no point in the match did anyone think Fiji was finished. You won’t see the genuine fear in Welsh fans as Fiji came surging back, how that final moment, when Radradra spilt a difficult pass, produced gasps both of pain, and relief, followed by Welsh fans making sure that Fiji fans how awesome the Flying Fijians were.
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