Serua Rugby maps pathway for players

THE Serua Rugby Union has set big plans for the 2024 season, mapping pathways for their players right from the primary school level.

The union had its first-ever Serua 10s tournament yesterday with the purpose of tuning their players to be physically and mentally prepared for the start of the 15s season.

Next week, the SRU will begin its weekly club competition as the main squad builds for their first match against Malolo in the Vodafone Vanua Cup.

“The purpose of this Serua 10s was to get our teams under the union to get in competition mode and tune the players ahead of the Vanua competition and our club games. This is to get the players physically ready for the 15s season that is about to start.

“From this tournament we will select the players to represent Serua in our first Vanua Cup match. There are 16 clubs taking part with Navy being the new inclusion. They have a team that is now part of the union along with a team from Kiuva in Tailevu.

“This is the pioneer 10s tournament as we try to lay the platform and have the players transition from 7s, 10s and eventually the 15s code,” explained the Serua Rugby Union advisor and board member Sakiusa Turagabeci.

The union has a renewed vision with the refreshed leadership of president Ratu Penaia Latianara.

“The performance of the Serua team has not been consistent in the past year but our new administration team will help change that. Our vision for the team is to set achievable goals and force our way into the major provincial competition.

“The vision encompasses our logistics planning and community engagement, two of the factors we have observed that the union was lacking.

“We have pathway plans starting from the primary school level.

“When you look at the school giants in secondary schools’ rugby, you will always have a player from Serua there, so the plan is to contain our players in the province by encouraging them to attend our schools in Lomary, Ratu Latianara and Vashist Muni College. So as soon as they leave school, they will be captured into the SRU Under-20 system and eventually make their way into the main squad.”

SRU’s top clubs from last season are Deuba and Vunibau.

Picture: SOPHIE RALULU BDK Galoa prop Emosi Mokotanavanua (with the ball) in action during the Serua 10s tournament at Thomson Park in Navua yesterday. The Serua Rugby Union will participate in the Vodafone Vanua Cup competition which kicks off on February 24.