Star winger tells how he was not considered for Tokyo 2020 and was later recalled, He would drive for 3 hours to get to Vilimoni Botitu where they had to train for the Olympics
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The Fiji women s rugby sevens team won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Coach Saiasi Fuli said women s rugby is not played at primary or secondary school level in Fiji and some of his players have only took up the sport two years ago.
But their success in Tokyo is proving to be the perfect recruitment tool. Straight after that bronze medal win I had hundreds of calls from girls in Fiji and Fijians overseas wanting to come and join the Fijiana, he said from Tokyo. That is the positive impact of this Olympic tournament and it motivates and encourages young girls in Fiji to take up the sport of rugby sevens and increase the number of women s participation in Fiji.
Fuli: Time To Rest fijisun.com.fj - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from fijisun.com.fj Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The opposite of distancing; rugby 7s set for kickoff
By JOHN PYEJuly 25, 2021 GMT
TOKYO (AP) They’ll wear their masks and keep their distance in public, until the tackling and rucking starts.
This is one sport where COVID-19 restrictions cannot separate 14 humans competing for a ball in 14-minute chunks of time, a dozen times a day.
It’s likely to be hot and humid, too, when defending Olympic champion Fiji kicks off the men’s rugby sevens competition against Japan in Tokyo on Monday, followed by 2016 silver medalist Britain against Canada.
New Zealand, Australia and South Africa – without its head coach because of a positive pre-tournament coronavirus test – will also have played before U.S. veteran Perry Baker gets to start his second Olympic tournament in a match against Kenya.
PACNEWS
Fiji 7s national head coach Gareth Baber during training with his boys. Picture: FT FILE
TOKYO, 21 JULY 2021 (WORLD RUGBY) – World rugby caught up with Welshman Baber as he plots Fiji’s defence of the Olympic title they won in Rio five years ago.
It was a celebration that brought Fiji to a standstill. Two weeks after the country’s men’s sevens team had delivered the nation’s first ever Olympic medal, with gold at Rio 2016, the players were treated to a homecoming to remember.
Thousands of fans lined the streets waving flags as the team made its way from Nadi Airport to Prince Charles Park, around nine kilometres away.