Rugby: More than victory on radar of Flying Fijians

YAWNING billboards of Nemani Nadolo smiling back were posted from Nadi airport and dotted along the idyllic coral coast, leaving no ambiguity on what the Rugby World Cup means to one of the more affluent Pacific Island nations.

I was predominantly in Suva bonding with my widowed mother while my wife was at a nearby town doing the same with her one.

The island was in the grip of rugby fever although not everyone thought the "Flying Fijians" would do the unthinkable against hosts England when the two nations kicked off at 7am after a 20-minute opening ceremony entitled Breaking New Ground.

"They are Flying Fijians but they'll be walking back home from the world cup," said a grinning taxi driver to me just before midnight one day.

In a country where it's not unusual to find cars flying All Blacks flags and random people sporting Wallaby, France and NRL team shirts, fans seemed more preoccupied with how a Nadroga village druid's herbal treatment had expedited All Black winger Waisake Naholo's broken leg.

For the John McKee-coached islanders, the occasion may be too much. How can it not be when a capacity 82,000 at Twickenham is large enough to just about swallow the entire population of the capital city of Suva (85,691 at the last count).

Even though England will wear red and employ the visitors' changing room, Kiwi McKee's men will have to produce something special to tip the quest for the William Webb Ellis Trophy on its head this morning.

You see, in many respects whatever the result of this opener, Fiji are playing for something greater than a trophy.

They will be mindful they are carrying the burden of every rugby-playing island nation in the South Pacific.

Simply by running on to Twickenham they will have a great opportunity to capture the minds of a global fan base as a collective, not some disjointed tribe wowing crowds around the world as individuals.

Even greater than the desire to show England have chinks in their armour to lift the crown will be the hunger to show island nations deserve more decent game time every four years between cups so they can improve their lot.

This week, it is ironic that a gift from All Blacks sponsors AIG landed on my desk in the form of a "as-never-before" virtual reality Haka 360-degree Experience.

The big black box promised a spine-tingling Ka mate haka if downloaded to a smartphone.

But there's no virtual reality for Fiji today in a country where soccer reigns and you wouldn't have guessed a Rugby World Cup was about to be staged due to the absence of billboards and posters.

They will need to do more than just bank on burly 27-year-old Crusaders winger Nadolo to pull out all the tricks from the bag.

Most of them have played their rugger in top-level Europe club competition, if not Super Rugby.

Anyone who has minimal understanding of the code will be aware the World No 9 islanders have to match the English in the engine room otherwise face a battering.

No doubt, even a narrow losing margin in the "Pool A of Death" will go a long way in giving them some parity on the fields of contention.