Test for new players
FIJIANA 15s coach Senirusi Seruvakula says the Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship is chance for the coaching panel to increase the team’s depth ahead of the Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in October.
The Oceania championship will see Fiji take on Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga in Auckland, New Zealand next month.
Seruvakula has named 18 new players in a 28-member squad travelling for the Oceania, with only 10 players retained from the Rooster Chicken Fijiana Drua side that won the Super W title in April.
A notable omission from the team is Sereima Leweniqila, who played a big role in the Drua victory.
“There are a lot of girls that have been left behind,” Seruvakula said earlier this week. “We are just focusing on the local girls that have been playing in the Marama Championship and the Ranadi Cup. So there will be a group of girls that will be training behind.
“The main purpose is to concentrate on the depth within the team so that when we come back, they will march in with the girls that were left behind.
“And also picking the girls from the Marama and Ranadi, when we came back the standard was unbelievable. So these girls they deserve to be picked in the Fijiana for the Oceania. So you can see that there are 18 new caps.”
He said he knew the capabilities of players who participated in the Super W and was exploring other options.
“I already know the girls that went to the Super W and what they can offer,” he said.
“These girls (18 new players) bring another challenge to the team so that we can have a wider squad.
“The girls in the Drua already know the system so we are trying to bring in a new group of girls to challenge these girls that have been to the Super W. I can see that we are getting the standard that we want.”
The Oceania championship will be held on July 9-17.