So, farewell: Fiji & Italy

Fiji

In 2007, Fiji took the Rugby World Cup by storm by defeating Wales 38-34 and dumping the Home Nation out of the tournament, nicking their quarterfinal berth in the process. As a result, great things were expected of the Fijians this time around, and the islanders totally failed to deliver. Aside from winning one game against tournament whipping boys Namibia, Fiji was battered, beaten and bulldozed by all of their other opponents. The final result in the much-hyped “Revenge Match” for Wales saw real revenge and not much a fight.

Best moment: beating Namibia 49-25 in a match that suggested that both teams had a lot to offer in the tournament.

Worst moment: all of the other games, in which they scored a total of 10 points, in a 49-3 defeat to South Africa, a 27-7 to island rivals Samoa and a closing 66-0 pounding from Wales.

Highest points scorer: fly-half Seremaia Baikeinuku, who scored 22 of the 59 points, followed by Vereniki Goneva, who scored 20 in four tries against Namibia.

Best player: all-round legend Nicky Little, who had the good grace to apologize for his team’s performance against Samoa and admit that Fiji were pony.

Italy

The perennial 6 Nations wooden spoon contenders arrived at this tournament with the intention of making heads turn, with the aim being to knock Ireland out of their expected second place. However, Ireland’s shock win against Australia effectively saw the Azzurri competing with the Wallabies for second place, and it was pretty clear who would be the winner in that particular outcome. Yesterday’s closely fought first half and second half capitulation was a fair summary of Italy’s World Cup.

Best moment: running in nine tries against Russia in a glittering 53-17 slugfest.

Worst moment: capitulating to both Australia and Ireland in the second half of both of these games after a hard-fought first half. The Australia first half ended 6-6 and ended 32-6 to the Wallabies, while the Ireland game, probably more painful after the almost-victory for the Italians in the same fixture Six Nations earlier this year, saw the first half ending 9-6 and the final score as 36-6 to the Irish.

Highest points scorer: kicker Mirco Bergomasco, who scored 19 of Italy’s 92 points.

Best player: toss up between captain Sergio Parisse and prop Martin Castogiovanni, both born in Argentina and both first-class players and ambassadors for the game.