Meet our man in Japan at RWC
The country’s top photojournalist Bruce Southwick will be at the Rugby World Cup in Japan for the Fiji Sun.
He’ll be specifically focusing on the Fiji Airways Flying Fijians. Catching all the action from the four pool games and happenings behind the scene. Southwick is a passionate rugby man. A former player himself, he regularly travels the world covering the World Sevens Series and international rugby for the Fiji Sun.
“Playing the game as a kid in later as a teenager in New Zealand I played club rugby for Kamo (Ian Jones club) and played representative rugby for Northland (2nd XV) in New Zealand too,” Southwick said.
“As I kid in Fiji I watched Hong Kong 7s with my grandfather and always wanted to play for Fiji.
“When I moved back to Fiji in 2004 I started shooting the Fiji team for fun and have followed them in local Test matches and later to the Rugby World Cup in 2007 in France.
“By chance I met a World Rugby influential guy on a flight and got employed to shoot for World Rugby in Fiji and Oceania from 2008 until now as the official photographer for World Rugby in Oceania.” Southwick was at the Hong Kong 7s for the first time in 2008 and has now covered the event nine times.
“I will continue to do so as long as I can walk,” he added. Southwick also covered the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where the men’s 7s team won the country’s first gold medal. When he’s not doing that, he runs his own ZoomFiji company the country’s leading wedding, photography and cinematography business.
They have shoot documentaries for HSBC creating unique stories of rugby and soon to release their latest story of World Rugby on Frank Lomani.
“I am as excited as I was in 2007, as I feel the right blend of experienced players and raw Fijian talent are in the Fiji team. Watching and shooting Graham Dewes score to beat Wales’s way back in 2007 showed we can do it and with John McKee and his talented coaches I again have a good feeling of this team of ours.” Southwick said big events brought big pressure and even his heart raced so much shooting those events. “The excitement, the noise and the crunching sounds from being lucky enough to be on the sideline are memories I cherish and crave equally,” he said.
“A television angle can only show you a narrow view and being there you can see breaks evolving way before they happen and see the vast work players also do off the ball.
“I feel honoured to shoot Fiji, I try my best to share the essence of what it is like to be there and capture our team in a uniquely Fijian way that will make them proud.
“I’m excited to share with the country about our team’s fortunes with the
Fiji Sun and Fiji Airways- again as we have a true rugby bond.”