Best rugby fans

THE world’s best rugby fans are in Fiji, says Swire Shipping Fijian Drua chief executive officer Mark Evans, when asked about their fan base after having only debuted in their first Super Rugby season.

“Best fans in the world. No question,” Evans said.

“I’ve been absolutely blown away by the level of enthusiasm, interest and passion for the sport.

“There is nowhere else in the world, in my experience, and I have worked in a fair few countries and I have travelled to more, largely with rugby, not entirely but largely with rugby. And my personal opinion is that the world’s best rugby fans are in this country.”

Evans says they hope Fiji is excited about their own Super Rugby team.

“I think the Fijian people have waited a long time for a Super Rugby team to call their own.”

Evans says to have a full season on the island — three games scheduled for Lautoka and the same in Suva, with the Fiji team playing in it, “I’m sure people are going to be even more enthusiastic this year because it’s a proper program and it’s pretty well spread out — it’s split between the two stadiums equally and I think that’s good as well”.

He says they had made buying tickets easy via mobile phones and fans will not have to wait for the day of the game to queue up.

“We hope we’ll put on a good match day experience again like we did the last time.

“And we hope the team will perform with grit and determination and passion like they did in the two games on the island last year.

“It’s a great opportunity to showcase the country and give people around the rugby world a glimpse of what it’s like and how passionately people on the island feel about this sport.”

In the first season, full capacities were recorded at the HFC Bank Stadium with 15,000-sitting capacity and 12,000 for Churchill Park in Lautoka.