First For Our Women
Mark down, Saturday April 21, as a special day for our women rugby players.
It’s a dawn of a new era as never before in the history of our national sport have the women being part of the Fiji Rugby Union mainstream provincial competitions.
It will be for the first time on Saturday when women from Nadroga, Navosa, Malolo, Nadi, Rewa, Suva, Naitasiri and Namosi strut their stuff in the 2018 Skipper Cup Premiership competition.
This would not have been possible without the massive sponsorship of $500K by CJ Patel.
The Skipper Cup will provide a launching pad for our women to be competitive on the Oceania and global fronts.
In the past we struggled to be competitive because we did not play in proper competitions. A case in point was when won the first ever 2016 Oceania Women’s Championship beating Papua New Guinea at the ANZ Stadium in Suva.
The win enabled the Fijians to participate in the Asia /Oceania qualifier in Hong Kong. We just needed to beat either Hong Kong or Japan to qualify for the 2017 Women Rugby World Cup in Ireland.
But in the end, the team was convincingly beaten by Hong Kong and Japan who were more prepared as they were involved in proper competitions.
SCOUT FOR MORE PLAYERS
The women involvement in the Skipper Cup will allow Fiji Airways Fijiana 7s coach Iliesa Tanivula to scout for more players. Tanivula after the Commonwealth Games last Sunday said having a women’s cometition in the Skipper Cup is a step towards the right direction. This is a start of a new beginning for our women rugby players.
The onus is on them to enjoy, perform and deliver for their provincial districts first as the future looks better and brighter for our women like never before.
SATURDAY’S FIXTURES
Skipper Cup Premiership: Namosi v Naitasiri ; Suva v Malolo;, Navosa v Rewa; Nadi v Nadroga. Game schedules: 10am- Women’s competition, 1pm- Under-20, 3pm- Men’s Premiership.
Vodafone Vanua Championship: Ra v Lautoka; Yasawa v Tavua, Nukuloa v Vatukoula, Serua v Ba, Macuata v Bua, Nasinu v Northland, Cakaudrove v Nothern Bulls, Ovalau v Tailevu. All matches kickoff at 3pm.