Taliga, the sevens comeback king
KITIONE Taliga’s Police Blue side heads into this weekend’s MacDonald’s Fiji’s Coral Coast Sevens at Lawaqa as hot favourites to retain their title despite going down in the semi-finals against Raiwasa Resort Taveuni last Saturday in Nadi.
The Dratabu, Nadi man is hitting top form in local sevens rugby and Fiji Airways Fiji 7s coach Gareth Baber and the rugby sevens fraternity may have just rediscovered the missing link in Fiji’s jigsaw puzzle.
The 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist combined with fellow Olympian and Dratabu man Samisoni Viriviri are among a star-studded Police Blue side that was impressive in the Basic Homes Tabadamu Sevens.
Household names such as Joeli Lutumailagi, Keponi Paul are expected to hit peak form this weekend.
The quarter-finals saw teams field experienced men and sevens extended squad members over the past two years show off their talents while Taveuni produced some new sensational players in the likes of Netava Natavo.
The garden island flyers brought in a new brand of sevens footwork that looked more like the “siba” they perform on dance floors, but the stop-start movements threw off defenders and created scoring opportunities.
They shocked Police White in the semi-finals and Uluinakau in the quarters with tries coming off dropped passes of the opposition.
Instead of diving on the ball to secure possession they used their boots to toe the ball ahead and on a number of times won the race to the tryline.
They were unlucky in the final when the referee and his assistants failed to notice and call for a foul by a Tabadamu player that definitely warranted a red card.
However, the Setefano Cakau-coached side, down 7-12, came back to score four tries in the second half thanks to dropped Fiji playmaker Terio Tamani.
The Taveuni player had scored a try just at halftime when the Tabadamu defender came in late and dived on top intentionally hitting the try-scorer’s head with his elbow.
Taliga is on rugby records as one of Fiji 7s comeback kings and matchwinner. He rose to prominence in the 2015 South Pacific Games sevens in Papua New Guinea where he almost single-handed won Fiji the sevens gold medal.
He performs just as well coming off the bench and in the Olympics he went on as replacement in the pool decider against Argentina, who led 14-7 and scored two quick tries for a Fiji win.
Against New Zealand in the quarter-final the Kiwis scored one try and led 7-5 and in the second half nippy Jerry Tuwai dummied and danced his way through two big All Blacks defenders to sprint to the tryline and score for a 12-7 victory.
It was important that they take the lead in the second half as the Kiwis have often employed time wasting tactics when they had the lead. This they were advised on by coach Ben
Ryan during half time.
With the hooter sounded the Kiwis were still in possession and Fijian fans were crossing their fingers that no tackle would be missed.
In comes replacement playmaker Taliga tackles the biggest and most dangerous runner with the ball, Akira Iowane, and turns over the ball helped by Savenaca Rawaca.
It was the closest that Fiji came to losing in the knockout stages.
Perhaps Taliga’s finest hour or favourite comeback moment was in the Las Vegas 7s in 2016.
It has been one of Fiji’s favourite hunting grounds and they won the tournament in 2015 and 2016 in sensational fashion. In 2016 disaster struck Ben Ryan’s team following a bout of food poisoning and 13th man Kitione Taliga was thrown to the bench and came up with a sensational performance in the final against Australia, who were 15-0 up at half time.
He scored two tries and set up Savenaca Rawaca for another to clinch the title and earned himself a passport to the Rio Olympics where he became one of the stars.
The Fiji team had been hit by food poisoning and the players had running stomach and were greatly malnourished before matches.
Playmaker Vatemo Ravouvou was playing with no solid food in his stomach after having running stomach and opted to miss chow. Making his first HSBC Sevens Series trip was Dratabu man Taliga.
With the race and competition for the Rio Olympics warming up he was out of favour with the selectors as players such as Emosi Mulevoro, Amenoni Nasilasila, Jerry Tuwai, Ravouvou and a couple of veteran playmakers forced their way into the training squad.
After missing the first four tournaments of the 2015/2016 HSBC Sevens season namely Dubai, Cape Town, Wellington and Sydney, the Prison warden was able to make it back and went to the Las Vegas Sevens as a member of the 14-member squad but, he was in the list of two players who would be travelling only as reserves.
After the food poisoning Taliga found himself suddenly elevated to the reserves bench from where he watched as the Aussies scored three unconverted tries.
With Ravouvou feeling the effects of the food virus he came off the field. Taliga
went in and scored two quick sizzling tries by outsprinting the Aussie speedsters before setting up Rawaca for the winner.
He had made a great impact on the team from then on until the end of the HSBC Series in London where Ryan saw his full potential in the deciding game against Australia in the quarter-finals that clinched Fiji the second HSBC Sevens title. In Rio Fiji were down 14-7 against Argentina when he came in and scored two tries. There are players who perform well at local tournaments but fail to fire on the international scene.
Taliga is the other way around. He may play an average game locally but he thrives when the pressure is highest, in international tournaments. He is injury-free, disciplined and does not have to prove his consistency as he is a matchwinner.