Victory (finally) beckons for ambitious RWC sides

LONDON — On day 19 of the Rugby World Cup (RWC), two teams ought to finally walk off a pitch smiling.

Tonight’s matches just happen to pair up four winless teams: Canada vs Romania, followed by Fiji vs Uruguay.

The Fijians are considered the unluckiest. Stuck in Pool A with Australia, England and Wales — two former champions and a two-time semi-finalist — the Fijians lost to all three higher-ranked teams but acquitted themselves so well that Wales coach Warren Gatland, for one, thought they would have been strong contenders for the quarter-finals if they had been in another pool.

But Fiji coach John McKee will not fault his players’ effort and performances. “It is a credit to everyone involved, albeit frustrating that we haven’t got a result in at least one of those matches,” he said.

“We came here with high ambitions and wanted to get one or two scalps in the first three games.

“But that doesn’t take away from this last game against Uruguay. The players are very motivated to finish the tournament on a high note.”

Fiji are not the only ones thinking of a win. Of all the teams in their pool, Uruguay have been targeting Fiji for a win, even though recent results against Fiji’s second-stringers in May and June — losses of 30-22 and 42-22 — don’t suggest this will happen.

“It is our best opportunity (to win) and, without disrespect to Fiji, it is the only Tier Two team we will play,” Uruguay coach Pablo Lemoine said.

“The truth is that we don’t think about winning here, but about showing our game, and if we win it will be as a consequence of doing things well,” said captain Santiago Vilaseca. “With Fiji we are looking to take things up a level.’’

Meanwhile, Canada have made seven changes for the match, which will be their last chance to keep alive their streak of leaving every World Cup with at least a draw.

Canada were not in the running against Ireland or France, but had Italy on the ropes. Winger D T H van Der Merwe has turned heads, and not just for scoring tries in all three pool games, and five tries in his past four Tests. But they will be without injured skipper and No 8 Tyler Ardron.

Romania, last in the pool, still hold hopes of finishing third and automatically qualifying for the 2019 Cup. To achieve that, they have to beat Canada, then Italy next weekend in their pool finale. “The Canadian game is a semi-final for us. It’s that important,” said coach Lynn Howells. “The players have put in a lot of hard work and this is what they deserve.” AP

TV TIMES:

Tonight: Pool D - Canda v Romania (11.30pm, Singtel Ch115 and Starhub Ch209)

Wednesday: Pool A - Fiji v Uruguay (2.45am, Singtel Ch115 and Starhub Ch209)