The Flying Fijians have been boosted by well wishes from King Charles’ in Bordeaux last Friday as the team prepares for their next pool match against Georgia this weekend.

King Charles surprised the team in what trainer Nacanieli Cawanibuka said was a “cool experience”.

“It was a great experience. We formed a walkway for him and escorted him out and the boys sang a prayer song for him…what the warriors back home in their villages would do to protect their chief. It was quite special,” Cawanibuka said.

“Before he boarded his car, the boys all stood there and sang a prayer song. I’m not sure if King Charles understood the words but that’s what’s special about Fiji culture, we sing a prayer hymn that has a lot of deep meaning. He quite enjoyed it and the boys really enjoyed the experience.

“We never dreamt as rugby players to experience something like that, but it’s the blessing of the talent that these boys have. It was a cool experience.”

Cawanibuka added it was an experience the players would not forget.

“Good luck in your next match,” King Charles said to the team as he turned to leave.

The Fijians have been preparing in Bordeaux in the past week, following their victory over Australia in Saint-Étienne the weekend before.

Head coach Simon Raiwalui said they are focused on the job at hand and will not underestimate Georgia.

Fiji is tipped to join Wales from Pool C as the runner-up after Australia lost their clash against the Welsh on Monday morning.

But they must win against The Lelos on Sunday and Portugal next week.

Raiwalui said the teams understand what they need to do.

“We are looking forward to this week. There’s a lot of talk out there about what we need and what we need is to prepare well and perform in the weekend,” he said at a media briefing in Bordeaux.

“We have got huge respect for Georgia, we have played them a number of times, we are at similar stages of our development and we know it is going to be a really huge challenge.

“We are going to put our best preparation forward and hopefully perform on Saturday.”

Fiji and Georgia have played each other six times on the rugby field. The Fijians have the advantage having won four games, Georgia once and a game that ended in a draw in 2021, a 15-all game.

Georgia recorded their only win in 2016 with a 14-3 scoreline. The two teams also met at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan where Fiji won 45-10.

Utility backline player Josua Tuisova said they cannot underestimate Georgia and Portugal, who he said, are strong sides that can cause upsets on any given day.

Tusova said the players are treating the Georgia game as a final.

“They are both good teams and we do not take them lightly. This week is Georgia and I have played some of the players playing for Georgia,” Tuisova said.

“We treat this game as a final for us and try to win this game.”

Fiji faces Georgia at 3.45am on Sunday (New Zealand time)

Raiwalui and his management team are expected to name their match-day 23 on Friday.

Source: RNZ