Fiji confirm place in Rio
As expected Fiji have won the Oceania Olympic qualifier in Auckland this weekend.
Published by John Birch, November 15th, 2015
3 minute read
Fiji were the shining stars of their tournament and had pace, physicality and patterns of play that were too sophisticated for its opposition.
On day one Fiji breezed through its first two matches against Cook Islands and Tonga. The third match against the day’s other unbeaten team Samoa looked a much harder affair and on paper Samoa were expected to be much tougher opposition. However Fijiana showed its class with great defence and silky distribution that created space and numerous try-scoring opportunities. The 41-0 victory was ultimately comprehensive.
Today (Sunday 15th November) Fijiana beat Papua New Guinea 43-0 in its last pool match before beating the same opposition 40-0 in the semi-final and then Samoa 55-0 in the final.Starring for Fijiana were Rebecca Tavo, Litia Naiqato and the dominating presence around the field of Rusila Nagasau who scored four tries in the final.Delighted Fijiana captain Anna Maria Roquica said, “Firstly we have to thank all our supporters and of course our coaches who really believed in us. We worked really hard over the last 8 weeks at home to get here and we are very happy.”“We are so pleased to qualify for the Olympics but we know we have to improve our fitness and skills further. Importantly we have to keep believing in ourselves.”Samoa showed great promise and have improved markedly and by finishing second won a spot in the women’s World Rugby Olympic qualifying tournament in 2016. Joining them courtesy of beating Papua New Guinea in the 3rd place play-off will be a delighted Cook Islands who were the surprise package of the women’s tournament.
This was former England sevens captain Chris Cracknell first tournament in charge of Fiji since he was announced as Fiji’s new director of women’s rugby back in September, with the Fijiana head coach duties part of his remit.
Results:
Samoa 35 Tonga 0Papua New Guinea 7 Cook Islands 29Papua New Guinea 20 Tonga 5Fiji 48 Cook Islands 0Samoa 31 Papua New Guinea 7Fiji 62 Tonga 0Cook Islands 27 Tonga 5Fiji 41 Samoa 0Samoa 7 Cook Islands 19Fiji 43 Papua New Guinea 0
SF1: Cook Islands 15 Samoa 17SF2: Fiji 40 Papua New Guinea 03rd-4th play-off: Cook Islands 32 Papua New Guinea 0Final: Fiji 55 Samoa 0