‘Sega ni dau dromu na Drua’, meaning ‘The Drua does not sink’, were the words that echoed through the Fijiana Drua camp this season, carrying them all the way to the Super W title. Short and simple they may be, but this expression signalled the strength, hope and belief of the Fijian women; this was the law of the team!
Seasoned number 8, Sereima Leweniqila shared their ethos after arriving home from the long Super Rugby campaign. From the gruelling and dirty mud runs in Togalevu to the relentless full 80 minutes battle of A-grade rugby games week after week across Australia; the Fijiana coaches and management never ceased to remind the women that losing was not an option.
Fijiana Head Coach Senirusi Seruvakula believed in his players and was determined to push them all the way to the Super W trophy. Seruvakula was widely respected amongst his peers and more importantly, by his squad, reminding them that while rugby is tough and physical, they were strong and resilient Fijian women and could endure it all.
Breaking barriers
The Fijiana Drua’s voyage had not always been a smooth sailing. As in much of the Pacific, women’s rugby is still a foreign concept in Fiji. Only recently has the idea of women playing rugby been widely accepted by its rugby-crazy citizens.
The rousing and recent success of the Fijiana 7s team, who won bronze in the Tokyo Olympics, went a long way to challenging traditional stereotypes.
Yet we have heard numerous testimonies of how women who wished to play rugby struggle against prejudice, such as Fijiana Drua Captain, Bitila Tawake played in secret, her rugby career only coming to her parents’attention after her picture was published in a local newspaper playing for the local Naitasiri club.
The way forward
Now the success of the Fijiana Drua and Fijiana 7s teams is sparking a movement. Young girls are showing a strong interest in playing rugby, inspired by their heroines, and parents have loosened the leash on their daughters to encouraging them to take up the game. Young women living abroad have also put their hands up for selection in the hope of representing their beloved Fiji one day.
Female athletes are also moving from other sports such as Pacific sprint queens Younis Bese, who is playing for the Fijiana Drua, and former Suva resident Helena Young, who is currently studying and playing rugby in Australia.
The challenge now will be for the Fiji Rugby Union to contract Fiji’s best players, as has happened with their English counterparts, who recently played in the Women’s Six Nations tournament.
Inspiring the Pacific
Oceania Rugby has noted growth of women coaches, referees, trainers, administrators and dedicated positions within the sport.
“There was 38% increase in female participation in the 12 months following the Rio Olympics and a conservative 25% increase in 2000 to 2021. And an increased number of female coaches, referees, S&C trainers, administration and dedicated positions on FRU provincial board level (similar to the Fiji Rugby Union board position currently held by Mere Rakoroi). This is a similar story across unions in the Pacific like Samoa, PNG, and Solomon Islands,” says Oceania Rugby Communications and Policy Manager, Sarah Walker.
Oceania Rugby Women’s Director and World Rugby Council member, Cathy Wong, believes the Fijiana Drua’s win is an important milestone: “Claiming the 2022 Super W title in the maiden year for the Fijiana Drua will go down as another crucial moment in the story of women’s rugby throughout the Oceania region and the success of first Fiji professional team, in much the same vain as the Black Ferns Rugby World Cups, the Aussie 7s’ Gold in Rio and the Fijiana 7s’ Bronze in Tokyo.
Everyone in Fiji and around the Pacific were able to witness on a very public stage the successes we are seeing in women’s rugby now when Bitila Tawake lifted that Trophy. This has not come overnight and the incredible hard work for everyone involved. Over the past ten years, Oceania Rugby has been active in supporting development within our unions like Fiji Rugby, through aligned domestic pathways and redesigned national and international competitions, targeted development of officials and supporting women in decision making position, to continue to pave the way for further moments like this.”
Like the Fiji Rugby Union, Oceania Rugby hopes to build on Fiji’s achievement to inspire women from all over the Pacific region to take up rugby and secure a financial lifeline for themselves and their families.
Ultimately, in order for the game of rugby to grow, the sport’s leaders and administrators have to accept that women’s rugby is the way forward. Women’s rugby is the future of world rugby.
sports@islandsbusiness.com
