FIJIANA’S MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Mission accomplished for Tokasa Seniyasi after successfully kicking Fijiana’s second conversion as they beat Australia 14-5 in their gold medal win at Marist Saint Joseph’s
ground, Apia, yesterday,
The Moturiki, Lomaiviti native who made her debut at the Sydney 7s believes team-work and the sacrifices they made have finally paid off.
“I went through a lot of challenges but I thank my family for supporting my rugby career,” she said. “Since I made my debut I told myself that I want to be successful in rugby and when the call came to play in the Pacific Games I was proud to make the team. “We’ve been watching the Pacific Games since we were small but I’m happy that I’m standing at the medal podium to receive the gold medal and at the same time make my country proud,” Seniyasi said. The Team Fiji women’s rugby side started strongly and scored their first try through Ana Maria Naimasi which was converted by Asinate Savu.
The Australian scored just before halftime to trail 7-5.
The Saiasi Fuli- coached side lifted their game in the second half putting Australia under immense pressure and were also ruthless in defence.
The Fijians were dominant in the breakdown areas which saw Savu diving over to score the second try with the conversion from Seniyasi going over.
Fuli praised his players for the win.
“Hats off to the girls for maintaining their composure. Our overall plan was to come and defend the title.
“In that gold medal playoff we needed to double up our effort. We forced the Australian to make mistakes and the girls gave their all,” Fuli said.
The Fijians thumped American Samoa 59-0 in the quarterfinal and Samoa 31-0 in the semi-final while Australia beat Papua New Guinea 31-7 to book their berth in the final. PNG won bronze after defeating Samoa 28-12.
The Saiasi Fulicoached side lifted their game in the second half putting Australia under immense pressure.