The Fiji 7s Men’s team was disappointed yesterday in Hamilton despite its strong performance in day one of the competition, but is now looking to the Sydney leg of the competition.
While disappointed with their performance, veteran halfback and co-captain Jerry Tuwai remains hopeful for the future: “To everyone back in Fiji, trust us we can come back. Fiji can rise again from this defeat.”
Although the side managed to meet the tough challenges issued by neighbours Samoa and Australia on Saturday, they couldn’t handle Argentina on Sunday, losing emphatically in its last pool match.
As a result, Fiji joined Samoa at the bottom of the pool.
Fiji later won against South Africa to finish 9th in Hamilton, maintaining its 7th spot on the overall World Rugby 7s series rankings.
Samoa sits at number 12 in the rankings.
The Fijiana (women’s) side also lost their final pool match early Sunday morning to the New Zealand Black Ferns 38 – 21.
The game was all tied up 21 points a piece going into half-time.. The current world champs looked stunned for a while before edging the Fijianas in the second half.
The side also went down narrowly against Russia 21- 26 in their last game in Hamilton.
Captain Raijieli Daveua was badly injured against Russia; she needed to be carried from the field.
Despite these setbacks, things are looking very promising for the Fijian women’s side as the players showed signs of development and maturity in their games in Hamilton.
Pacific Women’s Rugby is still developing in our region. Hopefully more Pacific Island countries will join the Fijiana in the current 7s series before too long.
New Zealand won both the men’s and women’s competition in Hamilton.
