Rugby World Cup 2015: Israel Folau not taking Fiji lightly as he looks to conquer the world

ISRAEL Folau is in England to dominate the World Cup. But after watching Japan embarrass the Springboks, he knows Fiji must be given due respect.

England v Australia - QBE International

THE last time Israel Folau played against Fiji in a World Cup, even a future NFL rookie called Jarryd Hayne wearing white couldn’t stop Australia piling on a cricket score.

Seven years later Folau is set to meet another Fijian side but this time in the Rugby World Cup and after the giant-killing that has occurred so far in the tournament so far, the Wallabies fullback won’t be entertaining a single thought of running up another ten-try, 52-0 rout.

Folau hopes to stamp his mark on the World Cup by dominating for Australia from fullback and while the plan is to begin that mission in the opening World Cup clash against Fiji in Cardiff on Thursday night, the star No. 15 admitted the first step is to acknowledge it won’t be an easy task.

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“Right from the start I was thinking we can’t take Fiji lightly,” Folau said.

“As you saw in the Japan and South Africa game, if you don’t turn up you are going to end up on the losing side of the game.

Israel Folau is itching to get on the field. Portrait by Luke Marsden.

“Fiji are a great side. I thought they did pretty well against England and held up a good fight for quite a while. They have some dangerous players in their side who can cause damage if they get on the front foot and get momentum.”

Folau doesn’t watch much sport on TV but even he managed to catch some of Japan’s stunning upset win over the Springboks.

The result — along with strong showings from other minnows — has sent a 1000 volt jolt of awareness into the tier one nations, and Australia suddenly found their late start to the tournament a blessing in disguise because they’d seen it all unfold.

Professionals are rarely complacent these days but the thought of losing to a minnow is not seriously entertained either.

“Even if we had of played early on, as a player you definitely should be like that going into a game with complacency. Every game you play you should not be thinking like that,” Folau said.

“That (Japan win) is a great example of what happens if you don’t turn up. But you also can’t take anything away from Japan, they played well.”

Folau has often spoken about a desire to stand up and be counted on the biggest stages, and he knows there is no bigger stage in rugby than the one he is about to walk onto: the World Cup.

Folau is one of Australia’s biggest rugby stars of modern times but to dominate here, and in a World Cup winning team, would put him on the rarefied company of David Campese, Tim Horan and Michael Lynagh.

“I think for every player this is where they want to dominate,” Folau said.

“This is as high as you go, play against the best of the best around the world. Every player who steps out there, they want to play the best they can possibly play and it’s no different to myself.”

Folau is confident he returns to Europe a better player than the 2014 Spring Tour, when he grew frustrated by not making an impact.

“I felt oppositions on that Spring Tour did a great job so it was a credit to them, but because I have high standards of myself I’m always going to be feeling down if I don’t feel I’m playing to my expectations,” Folau said.

“I feel like this year I’ve been ticking the boxes of what myself I know I can do and pretty happy with how things are going. I’m in a good space.”

Wallabies backs coach Stephen Larkham said Folau’s form didn’t dip last year, it was just that the team wasn’t good enough to utilise his skills properly. A year on and that should be resolved.

“When you look at Izzy’s game, he rarely puts a foot wrong. It’s not so much the fact that he drops off, it’s that the team drops off,” Larkham said.

“Look at least year and there were brand new combinations and a new playing style that the guys had to adapt to. Izzy played that sort of style similar to what the Waratahs played, he was used to it but a number of guys weren’t. You look at the footage and we really struggle to get any rhythm in multi phase at the end of last year. That certainly hurt his game.”

The Wallabies moved form Bath to Cardiff on Wednesday morning and Folau said he was pumped to get started.

“It’s been pretty good here but I’m just looking forward to experiencing that atmosphere at the game,” he said.

Originally published as Rugby World Cup 2015: Israel Folau not taking Fiji lightly as he looks to conquer the world