Despite playing in their first ever Rugby World Cup match on the weekend, Fiji have conceded they got "bored" as England piled on the points at Eden Park.
World No.1 England showed little mercy in welcoming Fijiana to the global competition on Saturday, thrashing the 21st-ranked Pacific side 84-19 with 14 tries to their name.
The match was just the seventh Test in Fijiana's history since their first international in 2006 - a sobering statistic assistant coach Asaeli Tikoirotuma said was reflected in the side's mentality, especially in the second half.
"It just came to one point when England kept scoring tries and the girls started to get bored and that professionalism in them still hasn’t kicked in yet," Tikoirotuma told RugbyPass.
"Their mindset is still grassroots at the moment, and we’re doing our best to change this going into the game against South Africa and no doubt we will put out a better performance from this week to the next."
Before that, Fiji showed some promising signs in the contest as they held England to a 24-14 scoreline at halftime. Tikoirotuma added they were proud to score three tries of their own in the game.
"That is one thing we are so proud of - scoring three tries against the number one ranked side of the world, and proud of our attack," he said.
That attack is buoyed by the influx of Fiji Sevens players involved in the squad for the campaign but the inclusions also have drawbacks with Tikoirotuma saying breakdowns would be a key area to focus for the rest of their run.
“A big work on for us is to clean the rucks, against England we didn’t look after the rucks properly. The reason to clear them is to provide some space on the outside for the wingers to score some tries,” Tikoirotuma said.
“All the players have a background in sevens, but we have got to adjust them into 15s. Sevens and 15s are two different games. In sevens you don’t have to speak you just know the player is there but in 15s you have to put structures together.
“If we don’t adjust we can’t compete at this World Cup.”
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