Fiji on threshold of new era

Fiji is on the verge of a breakthrough in international rugby.

Never before in the history of the game as far as Fiji is concerned that we have to face the number one team a couple of months away from a rugby world cup.

Coupled with the historic precedent by the Samoans 35-25 upset over the Wallabies last Sunday.

We have nothing to lose but step up and make the big hits with hands wrapped around those Kiwis.

As long as we have our hands wrapped around them we can hit them hard in the mid-section.

That has been the biggest arsernal of the Pacific islanders and it will always be.

The high number of penalties, yellow cards and the dreaded red cards can be beaten as long as we make those tackles legal.

Samoans have shown the maturity and depth of playing international club games and leading the way in circumventing that problem.

We can get back into that mode if we want to beat the big teams.

One good hit will be enough to negate their attacking flair; a second one will give them the opportunity to cough balls up for the taking.

Thank you Samoa for paving the way.

It is now up to us to go a step further and tame the number one team in the world.

Manu happy with Dragon slaying

Fiji proved critics wrong yesterday with a powerful display of rugby drawing Wales 16-16 at the Millennium Stadium.

The try scored by Albert Vulivuli accentuated the huge effort by the Fijians after waves of attack on the hosts finally broke through their defence.

Fiji lost its hold on the game after the traditional weakness was exposed in the second half with 12 minutes of non-stop scrummaging on Fiji’s five metre line eventually led to a penalty scrum awarded to the Welsh.

Fiji captain Deacon Manu was delighted with the effort of his side to secure the draw.

 Manu, who plies his trade with Welsh region the Scarlets, suggested Wales may have taken their eye off the ball.

“I am really happy with how the guys stood up today,” said the prop.

“The last 20 minutes we really had to dig in. We had to make sure we were concentrating as the Welsh side will pounce on any lapses.

“The last 20 minutes were huge and we were happy that we were able to retain the ball, which you can do under the new rules, and keep playing and keep the momentum going.

“It’s a step forward for us to come away from home and get a draw, but looking at who Wales have played in the last couple of weeks, and next week they have a tough game against the All Blacks, maybe they took their eye off this game.”

Meanwhile, Wales captain Ryan Jones reflected on “the worst 20 minutes” of his rugby career after he gave away a late penalty which allowed Fiji to shake the spoils.

The Ospreys back-rower committed the indiscretion that allowed fly-half Seremaia Bai to earn the Islanders their best-ever result against Wales in Cardiff, and revive some painful Welsh memories of their 38-34 win in Nantes that sent the men in red out of the 2007 World Cup.

The fact that Wales found themselves desperately defending deep in their own 22 so late in game said much about a mediocre performance that must rank as the worst since Warren Gatland took charge in the wake of that World Cup exit.

The home side were frequently turned over at the breakdown, shambolic at the line-out, directionless in attack and lacked the tactical nous to subdue their opponents.

And Jones, who will lose the leadership role to Matthew Rees for next weekend’s tussle with New Zealand, ranked the moment as the lowest in his career.

“It wasn’t good enough,” he said.

“In the end we got what we deserved and I have just had the worst 20 minutes of my rugby career standing up in front of the boys and apologising to them for a mistake I made which gave away the penalty for the three points that got them the draw.

“We are bitterly disappointed with that, the fans go away without the result and display they deserved and as a team we go have to go home, regroup and gear up for a massive test next week .”

Caption: Vulivuli scores for Fiji. Planet Rugby photo

Fiji bows out to Blues

Fiji gave way to Samoan pressure to lose the Pacific Nations Cup title to the hosts in Apia.Without the services of most of the overseas based players, Fiji lost composure and lost 9-31 to an experienced Samoan outfit.  

Having already won the IRB Sevens World Series this year, the PNC triumph is another feather in the cap of Samoan rugby, and it was IRB Sevens Player of the Year nominee Alafoti Fa’osiliva who stole the show a fortnight ago.

Following their loss to Japan last week, the Samoans needed a try-scoring bonus-point and a winning margin of more than 13 points to win the PNC for the first time and scored their first try of the afternoon when lock Joe Tekori scored in the 16th minute.

Lolo Lui added the conversion, and the crowd erupted when Mikaele Pesamino demonstrated why he was named IRB Sevens Player of the Year in the 22nd minute, chipping over the Fijian defence before showing great speed to collect and score.

Fiji were also looking for their first ever PNC title and hit back with three Taniela Rawaqa penalties, one before and two after half time, to cut the deficit to 14-9 and with just 15 minutes left to play, despite trailing by five points, Fiji looked to be on their way to the title as Samoa needed to score two more tries.

But Fa’osiliva was brought on by Fuimaono Tafua and had an immediate impact scoring two tries in the space of three minutes spurred on by the home crowd.

Fa’osiliva’s first came from a Samoan scrum on the Fiji tryline as he picked up the ball from the base and powered across the line. Lui missed the conversion but was on hand to convert Fa’osiliva’s second.

Census Johnston’s determination paid off in the build up after he chased Lui’s clearance kick from the Fiji restart and was on hand to pounce on a Fijian fumble.

The prop kicked ahead and F’osiliva showed incredible speed and composure to also kick the ball closer to the try line, before collecting and scoring Samoa’s fourth try to the delight of the crowd at Apia Park.

Any hopes Fiji had of a comeback were dashed when they lost Rupeni Nasiga to the sin bin, however, before David Lemi and Uale Mai combined to secure the 31-9 victory for the hosts, with the latter crossing and Lui adding the conversion.

Samoa captain Mahonri Schwalger said: “This win was for the people of Samoa.We came into the game with no pressure but just to give our best shot and prove our worth to the people of Samoa.”

Samoa coach Fuimaono Titimaea: “This is exactly what we wanted and I’m so proud of the boys’ performance as they followed the plan we set for the match. The players just did all the right things.”

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Tries: Tekori, Pesamino, Faosilivia 2, Mai
Cons: Lui 3

For Fiji:
Pens: Rawaqa 3

 The teams:

 Samoa: 15 Paul Williams, 14 Mikaele Pesamino, 13 George Pisi, 12 Jamie Helleur, 11 David Lemi, 10 Lolo Lui, 9 Uale Mai, 8 George Stowers, 7 Manaia Salavea, 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Kane Thompson, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Mahonri Schwalger (c), 1 Sakaria Taulafo.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Williams, 17 Census Johnston, 18 Filipo Levi, 19 Alafoti Faosilivia, 20 Junior Poluleuligaga, 21 Fautua Otto, 22 Rupeni Levasa.

 Fiji: 15 Taniela Maravuniwasawasa, 14 Ropate Ratu, 13 Sireli Naqelevuki, 12 Iliesa Keresoni, 11 William Saukuru, 10 Jonetani Ralulu, 9 Nikola Matawalu, 8 Mosese Volavola, 7 Samu Bolatagane Volau, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu (c), 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Sekonaia Kalou, 3 Alefoso Yalayalatabua, 2 Viliame Veikoso, 1 Campese Ma’afu.
Replacements: 16 Talemaitoga Tuapatu, 17 Graham Dewes, 18 Rupeni Nasiga, 19 Dale Mataluvu, 20 Kelemedi Bolatagane, 21 Josatiki Naisilisili, 22 Epeli Ruivadra.

Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees: James Bolabiu, Samuela Tuidraki (both Fiji)

With thanks to the IRB

Fiji shows promise

Bula to all you Fiji Rugby Blog followers,

Have been out of touch for a while and thank you for the recent comments which is quite stirring and prompting me out of hibernation.

Watched Fiji’s last gasp 41-38 win against Tonga in Apia last Sunday (Fiji Time) on TV and was inspired by the relatively young team that showed a lot of character and depth in the Pacific Nations Cup competition.

Fiji has defeated both Japan and Tonga and has Samoa as the last hurdle to win the regional title.

With 12 months to go for the Rugby world cup in New Zealand, Fiji has a lot of promise in the young talent with lots of enterprising and creative touches.

Fiji’s biggest need I believe is to regain confidence in themselves and some concentrated effort camping together as a team.

Logistics also need to be put in place for the itinerary next year to suit the team’s needs and focus for the coming world cup.

With the nearness of the venue we need to take the advantage and raise enough funds to set our own itinerary instead of allowing the IRB to dictate terms for us.

All the best for coach Sam Domoni and the new faces donning Fiji jumpers in Apia.

Caption: Fiji fans in a recent rugby seven tournament. Photo: Planet Rugby

Kenya stage big win in San Diego

Kenya beat New Zealand for the first time in 14 attempts to proceed with them and the rest of the top seeds to the Cup quarter finals at the USA Sevens in San Diego.

Los Teros of Uruguay gave the USA Sevens its first shock result by upsetting the Kenyans 14-12 in their opening match, but the African side performed the ultimate recovery job in beating the Kiwis at the end of the day.

The tournament in San Diego provides 15 of the teams in action – all bar Mexico – with a final chance to prepare ahead of the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai at the beginning of March.

IRB.com

Photo: Humphrey Kayanje helped Kenya beat New Zealand in the USA sevens tournament. IRB.com

Argentina win USA Sevens

Argentina beat England 19-14 to win the USA Sevens in San Diego and claim only their second ever IRB Sevens World Series title.

The Pumas’ only previous Cup success also came in California, in Los Angeles in 2004, and this most recent victory blasts wide open the race for the 2008/09 World Series.

England and South Africa are now joint-top on 60 points, eight clear of New Zealand on 52. Argentina lie fourth with 48 ahead of Fiji, Kenya and the USA, who take 12 points from their home event.

In the Cup final Tom Biggs and Ben Gollings both scored first half tries for England either side of one by Argentina captain Santiago Gomez Cora. Trailing 14-5 at the break, the Pumas quickly asserted pressure on the Englishmen after the restart and scored tries through Martin Rodrigues and Lucas Amorosino, before their famous defence kicked in to hold England at bay for five minutes.

IRB.com

Photo: The Argentinians celebrate after defeating England 19-14 in the final of the USA sevens tournament in San Diego. IRB.com

Focus on Dubai

Four years ago in Hong Kong, Fiji became the first nation to lift the Melrose Cup twice following their maiden success at the same venue in 1997, but with Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 now only 16 days away we take a look at some of the interesting statistics to emerge from the tournament’s history.

Thirty-four nations have now participated in at least one of the four previous Rugby World Cup Sevens after Tunisia and Uruguay made their debuts in 2005. That number will increase by only one in Dubai with the Arabian Gulf, as the host Union, appearing on this stage for the first time.

Of these 34 nations, only three have yet to taste victory in Latvia, Netherlands and Uruguay. Chinese Taipei had been in that category going into the Hong Kong showpiece, but they broke their duck with a 28-14 defeat of Italy in the pool stages.

The four Rugby World Cup Sevens to date have had one constant with Sevens maestro Waisale Serevi – the man who lifted the Melrose Cup twice for Fiji – the only player to have appeared in all four tournaments.

Eight others have played in three events – Serevi’s teammate Marika Vunibaka, Samoan star Brian Lima, New Zealand legend Eric Rush, Shinji Ono of Japan and a trio of Koreans in Hae-kyung Sung, Yong Hwan-Myung and Yoo Min-Suk.

Old rivals lead the way in tries

With Serevi having played in four tournaments it comes as no surprise that he is the leading point scorer in RWC Sevens history with 297 after adding another 45 points to his tally in 2005. Serevi’s mark is more than double that of the next best, Vunibaka on 115 with only Lima (101) and New Zealand star Amasio Valence (100) boasting three-figure totals.

Serevi has also kicked nearly three times as many goals as next best with 101 to Samoan Anatelea Aiolupo’s 30, while the maestro has scored 19 tries for Fiji, only four behind the top try scorer, his teammate Vunibaka, with Lima two scores behind Serevi.

Fiji, unsurprisingly, therefore share the top try scoring record with New Zealand at 153, although the 2001 champions actually have a slightly better average at 5.1 tries per game, compared to the Fijians 4.9. By contrast, Latvia and Netherlands have scored the fewest tries in the tournament’s history with five apiece in their only event in 1993.

Serevi’s side had sat top of the try scoring chart on their own going into the 2005 tournament, but New Zealand scored 45 tries – four more than the side that beat them in the final – to draw level. New Zealand’s tally in Hong Kong was nine times that of the hosts.

In all there were 498 tries scored by the 24 teams in Hong Kong, taking the total across four tournaments to 1,839 and raising the question, who will score the 2,000th try in Rugby World Cup Sevens history in Dubai?

One thousand reasons to celebrate

Delve a little deeper beyond Fiji and New Zealand at the top and you discover that Argentina, the 2001 semi finalists, need 17 tries to become only the seventh nation to reach 100 tries, while Portugal will reach 50 with four tries and Uruguay’s first try in Dubai will take them into double figures.

A total of 11,630 points have now been scored in the tournament’s history after the 24 teams involved in 2005 added 3,084 points to the overall tally, with New Zealand the top scorers in Hong Kong with 287 across their eight matches.

The opening day in at The Sevens in Dubai will witness a new milestone in Rugby World Cup Sevens history with both New Zealand and Fiji within touching distance of becoming the first side to score 1,000 points.

Fiji currently sit top on 993 with New Zealand on 985, but Gordon Tietjens’ men will be in action before their long-time rivals and will be favourites to claim that honour, needing to score just three tries in their opening match against Italy. If they fail to do that, Fiji will pip them to it when they face Georgia.

Who will score New Zealand and Fiji’s 1,000th point and who will make their mark on the fifth Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai – the first to feature a women’s competition running alongside the men’s event?

IRB.com

Photo: Serevi and son Junior hoist the Melrose Cup in Hong Kong after the 2005 championship. IRB.com

D-day for FRU

With the poor performance by the national sevens team in Wellington last weekend, the FRU need to make good on their decision for changing coaches in mid-season.

Either the team make the semi-finals in San Diego or give dumped national coach Waisale Serevi another chance to lead the team to Dubai next month for the Rugby Sevens World Cup.

Seems like the team had used up all the gas especially for the match against Samoa in last pool play in Wellington and had nothing left in the tank to defend well against England in the quarter final.

National 7s coach Iliesa Tanivula has proven locally that he has what it takes to coach in the full code and shouldn’t be thrown into the abbreviated code all of a sudden to keep him away from the 15s limelight.

But going back to the favourite adage by the FRU heads; “no one is indispensible in rugby” should be applied to them this weekend.

If your firing and hiring is not working get a taste of your medicine and get the gangplank ready for whoever made the call if the team doesn’t emulate Serevi’s record for the first two tournaments.

Serevi is well versed with the whole set-up and has been there.

He makes constant changes with the players give all the squad a run as well as saving the resources to go all the way to the dying stages of the tournament.

Caption: Last run? Serevi wants to have a last run in Dubai. IRB.com

US 7s receives broadcast boost

Organisers of the USA Sevens have announced that ABC will broadcast highlights of the USA Sevens Rugby Tournament, presented by Bridgestone, as a one-hour special on 22 February.

Since moving the American leg of the World Series from the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles to central San Diego, the event has enjoyed strong year-on-year growth in what remains an untraditional and emerging rugby market.

Organisers have struggled, however, to convince the nation’s major broadcasters of rugby’s appeal to a domestic audience, so this latest development is a major coup for the sport.

“Having a chance to showcase the premier event of one of the country’s fastest-growing sports is an enormous opportunity,” said Ray Peterson, managing director of the USA Sevens.

“Rugby fans across America will now be able to watch their favorite teams compete and many new viewers will also be introduced to the dynamic game of rugby sevens.”

The tournament has over 110 media attending, which will ensure that the global rugby community knows about the USA Sevens.

“USA Sevens is about engaging a new rugby fan base through creating a unique American entertainment spectacular with rugby as its hub,” said Tournament Director, former Eagles captain Dan Lyle.

“Building on the Olympic model of cultural diversity and elite-level athleticism through our participating nations, we’ve been able to capture the imagination of a major TV network as well as the support of the nation’s seventh largest city, San Diego.

“The attendance figure is expected to top 50,000 this year.”

IRB.com

Caption: USA captain Chris Wyles has been one of the outstanding players in the series this year. IRB.com

FRU is a dictator

The Fiji Rugby Union has showed again through the sacking of national sevens coach Waisale Serevi that it has not matured enough to take the game to the next level.

The sacking was described by chairman Keni Dakuidreketi that Serevi had breached his contract by being out of line and speaking to the press against team selection.

Dakuidreketi said no one was above the game and that Serevi could easily be replaced.

Maybe the same question could be asked of the board and the chairman if they were indispensible.

The way the FRU is taking is the same road that we have treaded for so long and reaped the consequences when we sacked coaches left, right and centre because they didn’t tow the line according to FRU’s hypocritical rules.

We had a disillussioned era where we sent mediocre coaches leading half hearted teams losing tournament after tournament for about five seasons at the beginning of the new millinneum.

Enter Waisale Serevi and coach Wayned Pivac to restore Fijian pride in the game to win the 2005 Rugby World Cup followed up by the Fijian runaway performance in the IRB Rugby Sevens series the following year.

What does it have to take to soften the stance by the FRU that this is a democratic         country and the coach, manager or any rugby fan for that matter can have an opinion that doesn’t have to conform to the rule book by the FRU?

We have had burnings and looting in our neighbouring Friendly islands of Tonga recently; the same cases in our close Asian neighbours but we still run headlong into keeping our pride and not caring to hear and listen to what the fans and people are saying.

With the talent in the country for the sport, the FRU should  have already brought home the William Webb-Ellis Cup at least once and had a pool of players that would be unbeatable in the series but we don’t have the capacity in the FRU to streamline our efforts and produce the winning teams that we have the potential to utilise.

The board chairman and members have been at the position for so long they should have already known by now that because of our God given talents and potential the fans demand nothing less from our teams.

They should have developed thick skins to roll with the flow of the temperament of the fans, accept their opinions and allow them to be a thermometer  to see where they are at and address them in their meetings.

If you had worked hard to close ranks with Serevi as the national coach I don’t think there would have been any outbursts in the media; let alone trying to control the coach by including in his contract to keep his mouth shut when the FRU made public statements. Where else in the world is a coach contracted to keep his mouth shut even though he is the national coach?

This is the 21st century and we are still trying to grapple with democracy and trying to stop allowing our people and fans to speak their minds and not having to take offence because as the FRU you have been chosen as an elite group to take our collective opinions and use them to improve our teams.

If you can’t handle the heat then you apply the same rules too. Looks like you stay in your cozy chairs and would not budge when the whole nation is seething with rage.

Serevi by the way is the only living coach that has been able to come in as a rookie coach and beaten New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens in his own domain and dominated the 2006 Rugby Sevens series.

That goes to show that Serevi has what it takes but just needs a little bit of guidance and assurance from the FRU to take the team where it belongs to; World Cup champions and 2009 series winner.

Captions 1: Ex-national coach Waisale Serevi and son Junior hoist the Sevens World Cup in Hong Kong in 2005

2: Fans rooting for the national side in the IRB sevens series in Los Angeles

3: Serevi at his best, playing for Fiji in the abbreviated code