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Tabua: `Give us a chance`

Thanks for the good times: Mosese Rauluni

Fijian coach Ilie Tabua has joined the growing chorus of voices crying out for a better deal from the International Rugby Board (IRB) for Second and Third Tier nations.

Tabua, a former Australian flanker, pleaded for more opportunities for teams like Fiji to play against Tier One teams on the international stage.

His plea follows Fiji's 20-37 loss to South Africa in a World Cup quarter-final in Marseille on Sunday, a game which showed that with more opportunities the minnows could become major players on the world stage.

Tabua felt that the "bounce of the ball" did not always favour his team on Sunday, but was still proud of the effort put in by his players against the more-fancied Springboks.

"The second half we wanted to get back into the game with just a couple more tries, but the bounce of the ball in the last 10/15 minutes of the game didn't go our way," he said about a half in which the Fijians came back from being 6-20 down to draw level 20-all, before the Boks eased clear.

He also praised his players for scoring two great tries in a period when his team was down to 14 men, with centre Seru Rabeni yellow-carded for one of several illegal tackles in the game.

"Everyone wanted to play for each other, they wanted to play for the country," Tabua said of his team's two tries.

However, he felt that overall the game showed that more needs to be done for the Tier Two and Three teams.

"It is time that the IRB and the Tier One nations give us more opportunities ... more windows for Test matches.

"We need to develop the Island nations," he added.

Fijian captain Mosese Rauluni also praised his team for their efforts on the day and throughout the tournament.

"I'm so proud of the boys, it just goes to show that some of the Second Tier teams can put it to the First Tier teams," Rauluni said.

"All I asked of the boys was to give it their all and they did.

"They gave it for their country, their families and their friends, they sacrificed time away."

He also thanked the French fans which supported the underdogs with vigour through the tournament.

He admitted that his team played with freedom throughout the game, despite the occasion.

"We came here with nothing to lose, South Africa had all the pressure on them.

"We caused them to make mistakes and we found a few holes and managed to get through. Credit to the boys, they managed to finish the moves off. We also had one try disallowed, but that's the way rugby goes.

"We had some upsets yesterday [Saturday - Australia and New Zealand being knocked out] and we hoped to add to that, but unfortunately we could do it.

"Now it is up to South Africa and Argentina to carry the flag for the Southern Hemisphere."