Fiji prepare for All Blacks as Covid outbreak plays on their minds

Covid cases and deaths continue to soar in Fiji, providing a sombre backdrop to the Flying Fijians' Test against the All Blacks in Dunedin on Saturday.

Players are urging communities back home to vaccinate - advice that comes after the team was overrun by the virus on its last overseas tour.

Covid has been a hinderance for Fiji ever since it surfaced; from the financial burdens to last year’s outbreak during their Nations Cup campaign in Europe.

Most recently, it’s meant the Flying Fijians have only managed to complete their first full squad run three days before facing the All Blacks.

That’s because while the All Blacks have been preparing in Dunedin all week, Fiji have been in Christchurch waiting for players to leave managed isolation.

“It won't be a perfect performance,” coach Vern Cotter conceded to 1 NEWS.

“We'd like to have had a hit out beforehand but that's the circumstances of getting here and preparing.”

Their hurdles still pale in comparison to what's going on back home with 636 new Covid-19 cases and six deaths recorded yesterday alone.

Midfielder Levani Botia is one of many hearing stories from home.

“Our family has been stuck,” he said.

“So we know that they’re going through a hard time, especially those who are working and those who live in the village.

“It motivates the boys because we think of them.”

Many of this team have had Covid themselves after it ruined their rare chance to play three tier-one teams in Europe late last year in the Nations Cup.

Instead of a five-match tour, they were subjected to six weeks stuck in a French hotel, ending with a single Test against Georgia.

However, one positive to come from Covid-19 has been the upcoming two Tests against the All Blacks, with the Pacific team filling in after first-choice Italy pulled out.

“There could be a lot of negatives made about that type of thing but the real positive thing is we're playing,” Cotter said.

Botia said the team is treating it as a game they hope will at least lift spirits back in the islands.

“Rugby, it's one of the good medicines for the people in Fiji, especially when we get the win,” he said.