{"id":327087,"date":"2023-08-30T01:45:10","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T01:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=327087"},"modified":"2023-08-30T04:02:17","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T04:02:17","slug":"fiji-rise-embarrasses-wallabies-in-rankings-stunner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=327087","title":{"rendered":"Fiji rise embarrasses Wallabies in rankings stunner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fiji will enter the Rugby World Cup<\/a> as the highest ranked team in Pool C after leapfrogging the slumping Wallabies<\/a> on the world rankings.<\/p>\n

Fiji stunned England with a historic 30-22 \ufeffwin at Twickenham at the weekend to rise to seventh in the rankings, ahead of England (eighth) and Australia (ninth).<\/p>\n

That equals Australia's worst ever world ranking as Eddie Jones remains winless in his second term as coach.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2023 Rugby World Cup on the home of rugby, Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> All matches streaming ad free, live and on demand<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Fiji<\/p>\n

Bookmakers still have \ufeffthe Wallabies as favourites to top Pool C in a modest but competitive group that also includes Wales (10th), Georgia (11th) and Portugal (16th).<\/p>\n

But Fiji, who play the Wallabies in Saint-Etienne\ufeff on September 18 (AEST), have emerged as a major threat after winning four of their last five games under new coach Simon Raiwalui – the former Wallabies assistant.<\/p>\n

"The gap is closing, which is good for rugby in general," Raiwalui said.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> World Cup kiss scandal explodes<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Legend's grim Latrell warning amid text scandal<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Ange disaster as Spurs knocked out in 18-year first<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Australia<\/p>\n

"It's been really good to watch the progression of teams who have traditionally struggled. There's been more of a level playing field in terms of preparation. We've been together for seven or eight weeks and you see the benefits.<\/p>\n

"It's going to be the closest World Cup we've seen."<\/p>\n

Fiji's win over England sparked wild celebrations in the rugby mad island nation, with Prime Minister \ufeffSitiveni Rabuka – who played two Tests – leading the plaudits.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportRugby\/status\/1691691258941755615?s=20<\/a><\/p>\n

"You head into your first World Cup Test match as the tournament's darkest horse and the nation will be praying and cheering for your from our living rooms and community halls," Rabuka said.<\/p>\n

Fiji had lost all seven previous Tests against England since 1988 by an average score of 41-16.<\/p>\n

"They're a really good team now, got some phenomenal athletes," England captain Courtney Lawes said.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportRugby\/status\/1688813735161257984?s=20<\/a><\/p>\n

"One on one, they made us look silly."<\/p>\n

Ireland top the world rankings ahead of France, South Africa and New Zealand, who dropped from second after their record 35-7 loss to the defending champion Springboks at Twickenham.<\/a><\/p>\n

The World Cup kicks off on September 9 (AEST) with a mouthwatering clash between hosts France and the All Blacks.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fiji will enter the Rugby World Cup as the highest ranked team in Pool C after leapfrogging the slumping Wallabies on the world rankings. Fiji […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327087"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=327087"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327095,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327087\/revisions\/327095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/327091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=327087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=327087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=327087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}