Brisbane Fijians celebrate their Cup Final victory in the Kiama gloom

by Brendan Bradford –

Seemingly oblivious to the gale-force winds and torrential rain that lashed the South Coast, the Brisbane Fijians put on a spectacle as they triumphed over 47 other teams to claim the Cleary Bros Cup as winners of the 2013 Kiama Sevens.

The Fijian side dominated their group before dispatching the Philippine Heritage team and Knox in the first two knock-out rounds and dismantling the promising looking Chargers 19-0 in the semis to set-up a date with Southern Districts.

The Rebels’ run into the final – while less certain than the Fijian side’s – was highly entertaining.

After topping their group, Southern Districts beat Kiama Inn 17-0 to force a Shute Shield grand final rematch against Sydney University in the quarter finals. Southos scored twice and shot out to a 10-0 halftime lead before Uni responded with three five-pointers of their own in the second spell to claim a 15-10 advantage. With less than a minute on the clock, new Rebels recruit Oleni Ngungutau made a break down the left flank, sped 60-odd meters and scored out wide to level the scores. The conversion missed but at 15-all, the Rebels went through because they scored the first try in the match, thus managing a small measure of revenge for their Shute Shield defeat last year.

The semi-final against Northern Suburbs was another intense match as the lead changed hands three times before Southern Districts scored out wide in the last minute to tie it up 12-all. Difficult conversions had been few and far between in the howling wind, but with a spot in the final on the line, Paul Asquith calmly slotted home and the Rebels were through.

Rohan Saifoloi scored first in the final before the Fijians leveled it up 7-all at half time. In fading light and gusting winds, the Fijians took hold of the game in the second half, allowing one try but scoring three of their own to run away with a 26-14 win.

The Brisbane Fijians were the best side in the tournament. Playing with the form, speed and skill of the national Sevens side, it comes as little surprise there were a couple of former Fijian representatives in the squad. In addition, man-mountain and former Waratah, Nemani Nadolo – the crowd favourite and player of the tournament – will play for the Fiji Warriors against the Waratahs A in the opening match of the Pacific Rugby Cup which doubles as the curtain raiser to the Waratahs-Rebels match this Friday.

Kris Kuridrani (L) & former Randwick, Manly and Waratahs winger Nemani Nadolo (R)

The Chargers, who looked likely contenders for overall honours before facing the flying Fijians, won the Bowl final against Northern Suburbs while a very young Randwick side defeated Tupou College in the Plate final.

The shortened form of the game has shot to worldwide popularity on the back of its inclusion in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and each stop on the IRB Sevens circuit is a major event. With the fast pace and high excitement proving a massive draw-card that’s sometimes missing in the 15-a-side game, Sevens is a showcase for the code and has been keenly adopted in many areas not generally considered to be rugby hotspots. Just look at what Kenya have done in the World Series this season.

Not restricted to the upper echelons of the sport, the global aspect of the game was on show in the women’s grand final between Parramatta and Shandong Province – a Chinese team – at Kiama too.

Located between Beijing and Shanghai, Shandong is a provincial Sevens set-up with around 22-players training fulltime. Of the 10 Sevens provinces in China who contest around four tournaments each year, Shandong is in the top two and is just one of many in the region beginning to send teams overseas for valuable rugby experience.

“Rugby is very important in Australia and coming here means we get to play in tournaments and learn a lot more about the game than we would back home,” said Shandong captain Yu Xiaoming through an interpreter after the final.

“One of the main things is the way players take on the defensive line, how they change direction and the way they interact with their teammates. It is above what we are used to and we’re learning a lot of techniques and teamwork skills.”

Shandong won the Queanbeyan Sevens title the week before Kiama and Xiaoming said the knowledge gained in their month-long stay in Australia is invaluable as the team prepares for the quadrennial Chinese National Games in September. One of the most important national sporting events in China, the Games have a huge bearing on funding and bonuses which are vital to a growing sport like Sevens in the highly competitive Chinese sporting arena.

“Basically the short term goal of this tour is the National Games but everything we learn from it will be used to take into the Olympics,” she explained.

And as for the weather:

“I’ve played in rain this hard, but never in wind like this, and never at the same time!”