Amazing Fijians

Sports

A popular rugby victory allows Fiji to recapture the magic of Hong Kong

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Sir Kamisese Mara to promise a public holiday of national celebrations. “They deserved ,t” said Ratu Sir Kamisese, who is also the President of the Fiji Rugby Football Union.

They were awesome,” said one rugby writer, “... pushing forward in relentless waves, the ball flitting along on the crest ” Fiii’s flair wiicL g on the their attart Tb A f t 0 their attack. Their defence saved them at

. vital stages.

In the first match “the Singaporeans were timid in h tackle asthe mSve brute force. s ln the se "°" d match > “ the win over

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strong game and keep coming.” r * • . . „ , , , 1* FI T s victor y> received back home by live radio commentaries, makes Fiji the onl y team to have won the Cup six times since the first tournament in 1978. Fiji

has played eight of the finals of this most prestigious sevens tournament in the world. Australia is the next most success ful team with five victories.

Fiji won last year’s tournament by beating the highly-fancied New Zealand All Blacks 22-10 in the final. Last month, they did it again with the same team by dumping New Zealand 18-14 in extra time. The scores were locked at 14-all when the siren sounded and the Fijians wrapped up the 18-14 win with a try to Timoci Wainiqolo, who came on as a substitute late in the second half.

Fiji scored four tries to three against a New Zealand side that hadn’t conceded a point in all its previous matches in the competition. Undoubtedly the star in the Fiji success was Noa Nadruku who set up two of his team’s tries after pushing it towards the final with 10 of his own in the qualifying rounds. The teams squared off before the start with their own versions of a tribal war dance while the Fijians stared down their opponents with the same arrogance they would show later on the field.

New Zealand began brilliantly with its

Reuters Gotcha: Fiji stops a Western Samoa attack in their quarterfinal match in Hong Kong. Fiji won 21-6.

leading try scorer Eric Rush almost breaking through after just 15 seconds but Fiji’s Vesi Rauluni cut him down in the first of tw r o try-saving tackles on Rush. While the Kiwis dominated the opening minutes, Fiji never panicked and, in fact, crossed twice for disallowed tries before making it third time lucky when Paullasi Tabulutu crossed out wide after some splendid work by Nadruku.

Nadruku was at it again soon after when he scraped around “the defence and despite stumbling sent in Alifereti Dere for an 8-0 lead. The Kiwis hit straight

back from that kick-off. With a try that

was perhaps lucky, powerful Western

Samoan Tima Tagaloa picked up the ball without it having travelled eight metres and sent Scott Pierce away to score.

The Kiwis led during the second half but Waisale Serevi put Fiji back ahead with a splendid chip and chase to touch down. The Kiwis crossed wide through Patrick Lamb but the conversion was missed levelling at 14-14.

The Fijians’ crowning glory was another moment of their stunning free style

with passes floating up and eventually Wainiqolo grabbing the ball and crossing for the winner. The Fijians celebrated in front of their president, Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, and prime minister, w'ho trav elled to Hong Kong to watch the tournament.

Fiji went into the final after beating Western Samoa 21-6 in the quarterfinals anc j the Barbarians 22-14 in the semis.

Taufusi Salesa’s Samoans nearly staged the big upset in one of the tournament’s toughest draws. Western Samoa led riji 6-0 in the second minute and forced Fiji

On attack: Robin Tarere (PNG) versus Australian Julian Gardiner in the Hong Kong rugby sevens pool play. Australia won 30-10.

into making some desparate tackles, especially on their own goalline. But just before halftime, Serevi set up the backline from his own goal with Nadruku selling a dummy on the 25-metre mark, ran 40 metres and sent Tomasi Cama running inside for the line.

Ratu Sir Kamisese joined the crowd in a standing ovation. Fiji scored two more converted tries and a penalty to finish off the Samoans 21-6. Western Samoa reached the quarters after beating Tonga 16-6 and Malaysia 38-0 in pool play.

Tonga beat Malaysia 38-0.

But champions Fiji deprived them

Reuters

selves of a typical rugby celebration after the final because of a vow by the players to stay off the drink until sevens commitments finish at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney the following weekend which they again won. So Fiji were a sober lot at the traditional post-sevens party at Hong Kong’s Hilton Hotel

booze-up.

The biggest disappointment was Aus

tralia whose crash in the quarterfinals showed the side was rap idly falling be

‘Everyone’s improving and there are no easy matches any more ... it’s terrible to lose here’

hind the rest of the rugby world in the truncated game. The Aussies were de jected to lose 16-6 to the Barbarians, a team built from England’s A and B international line-ups. Australia’s per formance lacked the edge expected from a proud test country and they are suffering lean sevens years compared

with the days of their five previous titles.

Australia has had to contend with the tournament falling in their season’s infancy while the Barbarians have been bouyed by England’s Grand Slam tri umph in the Five Nations series.

Last season Wales knocked out the Australians before the semis and this season even Canada, a country where rugby has about the same interest level

as baseball enjoys in Australia, fin ished as a semifmalist.

Even Papua New Guinea, an

unrated side, scored 10 points against Australia which finally won their pool match 30-10. Although the PNG strikes could be described as fortunate and against the run of play, the unrated Papua New Guineans showed some agreesion earlier in the match only to be split open by the speed of Australians

Jason Little, Darren Junee and Tim Horan.

The australians were left lamenting another wipe-out believing they went to Hong Kong under-prepared for the 24-team tournament. Australian coach John Maxwell and hooker David Wilson were just two to voice their concerns over

Australia’s jaded outings.

“We need some more sevens compe titions at home, not so much on a national level like here but rather more internal sevens to have us ready for a tournament like this if we want to keep up,” said Maxwell.

Wilson, not a regular test player but chosen here for his mobility, put his fears succinctly: “In the past we could get by just on skill level when it was tight.

Everyone’s improving and there are no easy matches any more. Today it could have been fitness but it may have been that our reaction is still not up to standard, but whatever, it’s terrible to lose here.”

Talat Mehmood Fiji’s champion sevens rugby squad: Back (from left) Noa Nadruku, Vesi Rauluni, Alivereti Dere (captain), Mesake Rasari, Timoci Wainiqolo, Sakeasi Vonolagi (non-travelling reserve), Niko Baleiverata. Front: Lemeki Korol (non-travelling reserve). Tomasi Cama, Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau (patron), Waisele Serevi, Pauliasi Tabulutu.