Fiji deserve to play with best in world

EVERY underdog has its day, as Daniel Dubois reminded us in knocking an entire cathedral’s worth of bells out of Anthony Joshua in London – or, as the capital city is now sycophanticallyknown by those who make the biggest bucks from the fight game, Riyadh-on-Thames.

- CHRIS HEWETT

Fifteen-man rugby is no stranger to the breed. Fiji, deliberately marginalised despite their gift for lighting up the sport, are pretty much defined by the U-word, having been underfunded, undervalued and underexposed by the governing class, in significant part because they have never possessed the financial muscle – the only muscle missing from their armoury – to buy their way out of the underclass.

This may be about to change for the better. We are a little over 20 months from the launch of the long-threatened, hotly-debated and nakedly elitist Nations Championship, which will give the traditional union powers and a small handful of arrivistes a heaven-sent opportunity to entrench their privilege by playing high-profile matches amongst themselves, without having to dirty their hands with the great unwashed.

As things stand, we know for sure that the Six Nations teams, together with the Rugby Championship quartet, will participate. Which leaves room for two more. Japan, awash with money by rugby standards and blessed with a big enough potential audience to give the come-on to every broadcaster in the sports market, are racing certainties to fill one of the slots, while those most in the know assume that Fiji – yes, little old Fiji – will also make the roster.