Spine chilling, breathtaking, heart stopping and delightful are just some of the many adjectives that describe how Fiji played just a few years ago.
I have the privilege to go back in time to watch Fijis 7s games on DVD. Amongst my collection is the 2000 Wellington 7s, where Fiji plays New Zealand in the final. Christian Cullen, who had just come onto the field,
was tackled by The Stretcher (Vili Satala) and he had to go off again. Then the camera pans towards Cullen, he is sitting on the sideline and we see
the pained look on his face. Where has this kind of tackle gone?
To see Marika Vunibaka and Vilimoni Delasau run pass the opposition winger
and they leave them standing. Where has this kind of speed gone? And there
was Waisale Serevi who tackles the ball carrier, who managers to get the
ball away, he stands up and tackles that player, and then another. Where
has this kind of energy gone? And what about the double up, Fero
Lasagavibau, played halfback, as soon as he get the ball from the scrum and
passes he doubles up, catches the ball and creates an overlap and then
Vilimoni Delasau gets the ball and mesmerizes the opposition with his
jinking run and sidestep, wrong footing the opposition who fall over.And
they were able to tackle the opposition and put him on the ground. Where
has this kind of strength gone?
And what about the world cup game when Wayne Pivac took the team, to see
high stepping Sireli Bolo at full speed is breathtaking.
While watching the DVD again this morning, I suddenly noticed that I was
holding my breath. Man, Fiji was good.
Allen Lockington is a self-employed customs agent and business consultant who has regular articles published in Fiji. I thank Allen for permission to reprint some of them in this political blog. They remind us that life goes on, whatever the political situation. And it's good to know that.
2 comments:
Despite how it seems, Fiji has not gotten worse. On the contrary, other teams have gotten better.
It will only get worse for us.
Think about the USA team. While Fiji's team comprises Fiji's best athletes, the USA team is made up of guys who were never good enough to play NFL and other "American" sports. This is changing though, as rugby is a rapidly growing sport there. As rugby grows, so will the number of top athletes who choose to play it over the more dangerous american football.
Give USA 5 to 10 years, and they will be world champions.
Our national sport is a sport played in some Universities around the world, but now 7's is to be an olympic sport, where some countries spend millions to add a gold medal to their tally, we are in a different world.
Fiji has the talent, no doubt, the world champions attest to that, but we obviously lack a good coach, and coaches in depth around the country.
Basics
1. tackle, defend , no man crosses over our line.
2. Variation of player size. We have never succeeded with an all giant size team.
This is the reason why Kenya can never go all the way. We are making that mistake today.
3. Repeat - Fijians dont need instruction on making tries, that already comes in their DNA.
These are observations over the years.
Post a Comment