“We’ve got celebrations programmed for when (the team) return”.
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Their mission complete, the Fijian players, many of them in tears, linked arms in a circle on the halfway line and sang together with eyes raised up to the dark skies above.
He played a part in the leadup to a try for Jerry Tuwai as the Fijians spread the ball from side-to-side and went within a meter of scoring before he was dragged down.
Josua Tuisova’s second try pushed Fiji out to 36-0 in the sevens final. “I’m feeling so happy”. “Perhaps now is not the right time to move on but I need time to think”. I’ll have to look at the video but it’s done now.
Britain’s semi final against South Africa was a cagy affair, with only two tries scored and the victory decided by a conversion. “But that’s the way it goes, I guess”. They did it in style by defeating Great Britain 43-7. They have also showed just why we believed that rugby would be good for the Games and the Games good for rugby.
Rio has also embraced the fancy-dress, carnival atmosphere seen at many sevens tournaments, with broad-chested men in cropped dresses and fairy wings swilling beer while taking selfies with players a common sight around the venue.
“I wish I was playing”. Usually when we start tournaments, we aren’t able to win on the first day.
“They played some high-risk rugby there and they were outstanding and, hopefully, we showcased Fijian rugby and everybody who was watching, maybe even the British supporters, can have a smile”.
A Fiji fan celebrates his country’s gold medal victory over Britain in the mens rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016.
“We’re not the biggest or the fastest team but we work hard for one another and we managed to get fourth”.
The world series champion Australian women beat New Zealand for gold, but only after scraping to a 12-12 tie against an under-rated USA team which eventually finished fifth.
The Fiji Village website reported that 51-year-old Peni Matai from the village of Serua had travelled by minibus from 2 a.m. Friday to be in Suva in time for the game. It includes Ethiopian swimmer Robel Kiron Habte, one of the wonderful everymen of the Olympics with his slight paunch who swam his 100m freestyle heat slower than the American record for under-10s, but said it didn’t matter where he came – he just wanted to be famous.
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“I don’t know that we have performed above expectations actually – we knew how much talent there was in the group and i think we thoroughly deserved to get the silver medal”, he added. Sevens is like a family. “We were lucky enough to pull it off in such spectacular fashion”.
