Fiji rugby season to kick off early

THE 15s rugby season in Fiji has been brought forward four and a half months so it falls in line with the Super Rugby schedule, and more importantly the Drua’s games.

The reasoning behind this early start (February 24) is so that (i) if the Drua pick up any injuries, players from the Skipper Cup are match-fit and ready to take their place, and (ii) it allows those not in the Drua’s match day squad to return to their provincial teams and stay in shape via the Skipper Cup.

Whilst this is perfectly logical for the greater good of Fiji Rugby, it has meant a lot of running around for the provinces, getting their squads quickly fit after the Christmas break, sorting out administrative paperwork and fast-forwarding sponsorship arrangements so uniforms can be made in time.

The Ba Tikina Championships only finished on 25 November, and the base of the three squads (Men’s, Women’s and Juniors) were selected from that innovative tournament.

Last weekend, the Western unions held a mini-rally involving the senior teams from Ba, Lautoka, Nadi and Yasawa.

For Vilimoni Delasau’s team, this provided an excellent opportunity to test the fitness and togetherness of his players following several weeks of training at Vinod Patel Park.

“This was our first chance to play since last September,” Delasau said.

“We took our extended squad and played three matches, winning all of them by a tight margin.”

“Most pleasing was our fitness. The boys have been working super hard in that area, and it appears to be paying off. But we also know that the Skipper Cup is a much higher level to what we experienced last year – the intensity, the physicality, the fitness and concentration needed just to compete.”

In last week’s first match, Ba defeated Lautoka 10-7, then upstaged Nadi 19-17 before overcoming Yasawa 15-5.

“We know that these are warmup games so things will be different when the competition proper starts, but we were very happy with our progress considering we were still a B Division team last season.”

Today, the Ba Men’s team travel to Nadi for two more warm-up matches, whilst the Women and the Juniors host Lautoka at Vinod Patel Park.

Ba Rugby Secretary Gaby Kautoga spoke of the big surge in activity as all three teams work to get ready.

“Overall, I think the three Ba squads are coming together reasonably well, but we know the other unions are all working just as hard. It’s all go – I have never seen Vinod Patel Park such a hive of rugby training at 3pm every weekday.”

Vinod Patel Ba and the Juniors travel to Suva for their opening fixture on February 24, whilst the Ba Women’s team host newcomers Kadavu in the Ranadi Cup.

“In rounds two and three, we will be hosting all three categories here in Ba,” Pastor Kautoga said.

“The Men and the Juniors will face Yasawa then Tailevu while the Ba Women entertain Malolo and Serua.”

“Everything is happening so quickly compared to last year, which was spread out.”