Fiji flanker Levani Botia has emerged as one of the best back-row strikers in the world. Photo: Christophe Archambault/AFP
How to stop Levani Botia?
Many have tried and many have failed to come up with a plan to neutralize the Fijian flanker at the break, but that is the difficult task Steve Borthwick and his team faced this week. ahead of Sunday's quarterfinals. The England manager is a fan of the 34-year-old and came close to signing him for Leicester. With that in mind, Sam Underhill's call-up came as no surprise. The Bath flanker's mission is simple: emulate Botia in training and prepare England as best as possible to nullify the Fijian threat.
Telegraph Sport understands England's preparations this week have been two-fold, focusing on their own troubleshooting work as well as the work of the referees to stem the threat of the Fijian Jackals. And it's not just Botia; nine different players have won jackal turnovers or penalties for them in their four World Cup matches, one of whom, scrum-half Frank Lomani, won as many turnovers as Sam Cane and Michael Hooper in last year's Super Rugby, in fewer minutes. Fiji have taken more penalties (in all categories) than any other team at this World Cup.
England's focus this week has been to win the race to the breaking point by being accurate when they come — it's no coincidence that Round 23 features those with the most potential at attacking rucks, but Borthwick and his lieutenants are under no illusions regarding the importance of Mathieu Raynal, the French referee, in determining the winner of Sunday's match in Marseille.
Mathieu Raynal's interpretation will be decisive. Photo: Adam Pretty/World Rugby
Richard Wigglesworth, England's attack coach, was featured earlier this week. “[The breakup] will be a little different,” he said. “[The referees] want guys out of the tackle area before the competition. Fiji tends to just compete and then follow through. They slow it down or take it away from you.”
Half the battle is making sure the 50/50 decision benefits England. It is understood Borthwick highlighted incidents of alleged Fijian misconduct at the breakdown — particularly in the win over the Wallabies, as shown below, with suggestions they failed to free a tackled player and sometimes kept their hands on the floor — in his pre-sale statement. discussing this week's World Rugby match.
Fijian lock Te Ahivaru Chirikidaweta receives a holding penalty from referee Andrew Brace with his hands clearly on the floor. Photo: RTE 
Moments later, Chirikidaweta's comrade Joshua Tuisova is awarded for the same thing. Photo: RTE
It is also understood that captain Owen Farrell will be in regular attendance with a French official during kick-off on Sunday. Farrell received a lot of flak for his gaffe against Samoa; However, a less noticeable fact of the captain's mistake was that the «lost» time was actually spent explaining to referee Andrew Brace that his teammates were regularly being kicked out of the game. Moments later Samoa received a yellow
Last season, in the top 14, of all those who scored over 100 defensive rucks, Botia finished the season with the highest score. Only three players have been involved in more defensive rucks in this tournament than the Fijian flanker, nicknamed «La Machine» in La Rochelle, the city where he is revered and the star of the Rochelet Stadium — but Botia has just three losses to his name , all against Australia, after he fell short of his impressive total in subsequent matches against Georgia and Portugal.
However, Botia's work rate proves that the flanker operates under the law of averages when it comes to refereeing decisions. Some of his turns are legal, some are not; he gets away with some; he doesn't do others. But Botia, a former prison guard in his homeland of Fiji, is willing to take the risk, knowing that judging an incident has become one of the most difficult — and critical — elements of an officer's job, with the difference between legal and illegal traffic so dense that it is often so difficult distinguish.
Telegraph Sport understands England are worried about the Botia-Reynal cocktail. Of all the penalties awarded by the Frenchman in this tournament, 57 percent were against the attacking team — with the jackaler. Wayne Barnes dropped to 32 percent (his lowest), while Ben O'Keefe and Jaco Paper, the other two quarter-final judges, had 41 and 43 percent respectively. Brace has the highest rate among the broader group of officials, at a stratospheric 72 percent; This means that almost three quarters of the time Brace blew the whistle for a ruck violation in this tournament, his hand was pointing towards the defending side. Rugby, with one at 72 percent and the other at 32 percent, essentially becomes a different sport, revealing an uncomfortable truth for World Rugby: two equally experienced and capable referees can look at a ruck and come to completely opposite decisions.
At this World Cup, England have been judged almost exclusively by referees who punish the attack more than the defence. Raynal against Argentina, Nick Amashukeli for Japan, Brace for Samoa and now Raynal again for Fiji; three out of four judges penalize attacks the most.
On Sunday England will be hoping it is the turn of Bothia, a former prison guard, who will be monitored as if the flanker were under lock and key. It was an unusual journey for the flanker, from Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island, to the Atlantic coast of France. Botia arrived in La Rochelle in 2014 at the age of 25, with the club still in the second division of French rugby. However, as Stade Rochelle has grown, so has the Fijian, moving from center to flanker to one of the world's leading back-row strikers.
“His physique and height are made for jackals, but beyond that he has this mentality and character… when he wants something, he goes and gets it; so when he sees the ball he does everything he can to go and get it,” Gregory Alldritt, France international and Stade Rochelet No. 8, tells Telegraph Sport.
“We tried to push him a little bit, but really it's better to let him do what he does best and wander around, playing instinctively.»
Returning to the first question of how England stopped Botia, the answer, according to Gutro Steenkamp, one of the Fijian flanker's coaches at La Rochelle, is simple.
«You can't,» the player laughs. a former goon who won the 2007 World Cup with South Africa.
Botia, now 34, is getting better with age. Photo: Xavier Leoti/AFP
Steenkamp, scrum and transition coach under Ronan O'Gara at the Stade Rochelle, played against Botia during his time at Toulouse and now coaches the Fijian freak of nature.
“I can tell you that this man is tough — the players are afraid of him,” Steenkamp told Telegraph Sport. “He's incredibly strong; a whim of nature.
“As far as discipline is concerned, in the past we have seen him chasing high balls, throwing a person into the air. Now he calculates, evaluates and reads the situation. We actually saw a clip of a guy jumping up and we all thought Levani was going to break it, but he waited until the guy hit the ground — and then he smashed it!
“Here comes his breaking job . down to its core. He's so strong there, And he's a tough man. Sometimes you get the big guys, but they're not difficult. He's strong.
“And with age, he's honed his game. We joke that since he moved to flanker, it's like he's become a younger version of himself!
The Curious Case of Benjamin… Bothia? This film, if it existed, would be essential viewing for those who compete for the England team, as well as Monsieur Raynal.
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