Rabeni looking to shake things up with historic victory

LEICESTER centre Seru Rabeni is determined to send a powerful message to world rugby by helping the Pacific Islanders complete an historic Test victory over England at Twickenham today.

Rabeni has played in all six of the Islanders’ Test matches since the alliance was first formed in 2004, but he has yet to taste victory.

The Islanders team contains a number of faces who will be familiar to the Twickenham crowd, with Rabeni lining up alongside the likes of London Irish duo Seilala Mapusua and Sailosa Tagicakibau.

The hard-hitting Fijian said: “It is going to be a great occasion at Twickenham. We haven’t got a win under our belts and we would love to do what some people say is the impossible thing — beating England at Twickenham.

“We are coming together and we want to put our name forward and Pacific Island rugby forward. If we can win it would be a big boost for Pacific Island rugby.

“We want to show the world that Pacific Islands is right up there – and that given the right opportunity, given the right support and the time to prepare, we can beat anyone.”

The island nations went a long way to proving that at the 2007 World Cup, when Rabeni’s Fiji knocked out Wales before giving eventual champions South Africa a major scare in the quarter-finals.

The Islanders — comprising the best of Tonga, Samoa and Fiji — gathered together only on Sunday night. But Rabeni has warned England they will be in for a rude awakening if Martin Johnson’s new-look side under-estimate them for one moment.

“We are trying very hard to get things in place with our patterns and systems,” he said.

“The boys know how to play; it is just a matter of bringing it together and expressing ourselves on the day, and we hope we can speak the same language on the day. The most important thing for us is to have fun — while tearing apart the opposition.

“I have heard England are counting this as a warm-up and are already thinking about playing New Zealand – we will give them a good warm-up.”

Meanwhile, Martin Johnson takes charge of England for the first time at Twickenham today, with Clive Woodward expressing fears a “champion mentality” may not be enough ringing in his ears.

The World Cup-winning coach reckons Johnson lacks experience at the sharp end of coaching and lacks support from within the RFU.

But Johnson insists England are in the best possible place to launch their bid to rule the world again.