Fijian support expected at Oceania 7s
TOWNSVILLE City in Australia is expected to be swamped by rugby 7s crazy Fijians this weekend.
Fijians living in Australia, especially those in Queensland, are looking forward to cheering the Fiji men’s and Fijiana 7s teams in the PacificAus Sports Oceania Sevens tournament in Townsville, Australia, this weekend.
The tournament is the only hitout for world 7s champion New Zealand, Australia and Fiji before the Olympic Games in Japan next month.
Former Naitasiri coach and former Fiji 7s selector Sailosi Naiteqe said expectation was high that a lot of Fijians would converge at Queensland Country Bank Stadium starting tomorrow to cheer Gareth Baber’s men.
“Most of the sporting tournaments in Queensland happen in Brisbane.
“This is one of the first major rugby tournaments to be brought to us who are living on the coast of Townsville which is a big city, and the far north of Queensland.
“We have received words from Fijians living in Sydney, Melbourne and other parts of Australia that they will come to Townsville to cheer our teams,” Naiteqe said from Australia yesterday.
“We are lucky that we do not have a lot of COVID-19 infection and probably that is why the games are here.
“We are happy that our 7s teams will come here. This is the home of the North Queensland Cowboys rugby league team.
“We expect to see a lot of Fijians here on the weekend and of course the Fiji flag will be flying high.
“We cannot wait for the start of the tournament.”
The Fiji men’s first match tomorrow is against Australia at 6pm (Fiji time) and the Saiasi Fuli-coached Fijiana 7s side at 7.06pm.