Marist 7s organisers announce pool draws
POOLS for the 47th Fiji Bitter Marist 7s were announced at the Paradise Beverage headquarters in Suva yesterday .
Marist Club president Lawrence Tikaram said fans and supporters of the much-awaited tournament could expect a different level of competition this year, as a new format had been followed in selecting teams for different pools.
“We have placed teams in different pools in accordance with their performance over the past years. Therefore, giant top teams have been placed in the same pools.”
Tikaram says this will bring out the best in each team as there will be fair competition among them all.
“This way, developing teams will have a chance to play against teams on their level,” he said.
More than 70 per cent of teams in the competition are travelling from the highlands of Viti Levu and outer islands.
“We have more new teams than those who have played in the competition before and this is a good sign for the competition.”
Tikaram said having the announcement of the event on Women’s International Day made the occasion even more special.
“And to have this event on International
Women’s Day just makes it more special and timely as we will also be featuring women’s teams at the tournament.”
The three-day tournament will be held at the HFC Bank Stadium from May 16–18.
Fans and supporters are encouraged to show up in numbers to support grassroots rugby.
“This will be a historic event as we will be having the most teams ever recorded in the history of the Fiji bitter Marist 7s,” Tikaram said.
“The increase of new teams in the tournament tells us that rugby is still growing in the country and we are excited to get the tournament started.”