After an impressive outing in their pool games, Fiji’s women’s rugby 7s side, the Fijianas, have secured a place in the quarter finals at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The women have shown great improvement in their performance recently and will be hoping to follow the example set by the Fiji men’s successful gold medal defence earlier this week.
The Fijianas had a hard fought battle against France in their first pool game. Although the game was tough, the results could have gone either way, the Fijianas just need to be consistent throughout the full game and the result would have gone in their favour. As it was, they missed out 5-14.
Things were good in their second game against Canada, when they beat the defending Olympic bronze medallists in fantastic fashion. The game went down as one of the greatest upsets in the competition.
The Fijianas ran in four tries, comfortably beating the Canadians 26 – 12. Although the Canadians responded with two late tries, ultimately was not enough to contain the Fijian women.
Brazil was the last of their pool games and the Fijianas out-classed the South Americans from the get-go. The Fijianas kept piling on the pressure throughout the game and were quick to recognise how to turn that pressure into points – in the end emerging victorious 41 – 5.
Half-back Reapi Uluinasau has caught the attention of the media and the Olympic organisers as she scored four tries against Brazil, making her the first player in either the male or female draws to score four tries in an Olympic rugby game. She is also on the Olympic radar for scoring the fastest try in the competition in just 14 seconds, a try she scored against Canada.
So, we look forward to watching and supporting the Fijianas as they progress into the tournament. Fiji is likely to play defending gold medallist Australia in their quarter finals. The game is scheduled at 9pm (Fiji time) tonight. Anything can happen- will there be celebratory fireworks in Fiji again this weekend?
