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VICTORIOUS FIJIANS WARM TO WELLINGTON CROWD |
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By Tuifa’asisina Peter Rees
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Wellington,
the capital city of New Zealand made famous by Hollywood flicks such
as Lord of the Rings and King Kong is quickly becoming the sevens
rugby capital of the world.
After yet another magnificent hosting of the New Zealand leg of the
IRB World Sevens Series in February, many now agree that while
Scotland is the birthplace of sevens and Hong Kong is the spiritual
home of the game, Wellington is easily the most entertaining sevens
tournament of them all.
The timing of the tournament at the peak of the New Zealand summer
and during a public holiday (Waitangi Day weekend) ensures the event
is played in the best weather and accessible to rugby mad loving
Kiwis.
Scotland coach Rob Moffat is just one of many waxing lyrical about
their latest experience playing at Wellington's Westpac Trust
Stadium.
"The Wellington crowd is absolutely magnificent. We seem to be
popular wherever we go and we always get great support," said Moffat.
The Wellington tournament is also renowned as a "player's
tournament" and is a favourite with the teams who have to cope with
a gruelling schedule travelling the globe to compete in far off
destinations.
"There were 30,000 in Dubai and there are 34,000 here and the
atmosphere is tremendous. It's a bit more hostile but it's just a
privilege to play in front of such an enthusiastic crowd," said
English player Luke Narraway.
The organisers did their bit, mixing live on field performances
during breaks between the games to entertain the masses. The crowds
are a big reason for the success of the tournament. Every year, the
costumes get more daring and outrageous. And the antics in the
stands are as much followed as that on the field which adds to the
drama and mystique that makes the Wellington Sevens unique.
For the IRB, the Wellington Sevens is one of its biggest money
makers. The tournament is always a guaranteed sell-out weeks ahead
of the event, and profits from food and drink consumption often
exceed revenue made from ticket sales. |
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Fiji reps participating at the Wellington 7s street parade along
Lambton Quay and Willis Street. Winner of the Cup Final against
South Africa (27 - 22).
(Photo:
Angelynne Enoka)
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Tonga Sevens team participating at the Wellington 7s street
parade along Lambton Quay and Willis Street. Winner of the
Shield Final against Papua New Guinea (19 - 14).
(Photo:
Angelynne Enoka)
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Samoa, Niue, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand Sevens teams
participating at the Wellington 7s street parade along Lambton
Quay and Willis Street.
(Photo: Angelynne Enoka) |
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But perhaps the biggest
bow must go to the Wellington city itself. They pride themselves on
hosting the only IRB Sevens tournament in the Oceania region and
make sure the event is a celebration of not only their city, but
acknowledging the countries of those taking part. The pre-tournament
ritual of the parade of nations in downtown Wellington brings
together the various teams taking part and helps to personalise
their experience.
Wellingtonians are great supporters of the "underdog" teams and
often this wave of support can lift a team to extraordinary heights.
Who can forget Kenya in 2005? This just another example of why
Wellington always seems to produce surprises, and continues to be a
wonderful advert for the sevens game worldwide.
This year's edition was no different.
New Zealand were determined to defend their title from last year,
but with a weakened squad were knocked out in the semis by eventual
champions Fiji. But the effervescent Wellington crowd did not wither
as they cheered on the Pacific Islanders in the final against South
Africa who had earlier defeated France in the other semi.
It was a classic final and appropriate finish to the two day event.
Fiji claimed the title with a 27-22 win in extra time after the
scores were tied 22-all at fulltime. Led by their mercurial
youngster William Ryder, Fiji stunned South Africa in the first half
to rake up a 17-5 lead. But the gutsy South Africans fought back and
had a chance to snatch the game at the end of regulation time. But
Stefane Basson missed the conversion of Gio Aplan’s try which tied
the scores. Sevens legend Waisale Serevi came off the bench in extra
time to steady the Fiji ship and his experience proved crucial as he
set up the winning try for Neumi Nanuku.
Serevi was ecstatic afterwards: "Like I always say, I thank the lord
for being the tower of strength in my career and in this sevens
team. Like I’ve said in the past, we've got nothing in Fiji, but we
work really hard, we train really hard,” he said.
The win was Fiji’s second win of the current series giving them
outright lead on the points table. It also installs them as firm
favourites to win gold at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in
March.
England rebounded from their shock loss to France in the
quarterfinals to beat Argentina 14-10 for the Plate. Scotland,
another crowd favourite, won the bowl by beating Canada 10-5, while
there was further cause for celebration for the region when Tonga
won the Shield beating Papua New Guinea 19-14 in an all Pacific
Islands final.
Earlier Tonga were unlucky not to make the Cup quarterfinals after
causing one of the upsets of the tournament beating Argentina 21-12.
Tonga also beat USA 19-17 but missed the quarterfinals on a points
count-back when Argentina came from behind to beat South Africa.
The Cook Islands again overachieved pushing Samoa and New Zealand
close. They had the satisfaction of winning one accolade though when
their speedster Koiatu Koiatu recorded the most tries of the
tournament with eight touchdowns. Samoa’s Timoteo Iosua was tied for
third with Ryder of Fiji with seven tries. Ryder was later named the
Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament.
Tiny Niue also punched above their weight bowing out in the bowl
semis after pushing France and Scotland hard. Samoa had a golden
chance to beat New Zealand and top their pool but settled for a
tense 5-5 draw when Uale Mai missed a simple penalty at the end.
There were also personal milestones for New Zealand’s Fijian born
star Amasio Valence who extended his record run of IRB tournament
appearances to 48. Samoa’s Uale Mai and New Zealand’s Samoan captain
Tafai Ioasa, recorded their 34th appearances to tie for third on the
all time list.
FINAL RESULTS – 2006 IRB WELLINGTON SEVENS:
Semi-Final Shield Niue 14 - 21 Tonga
Semi-Final Shield USA 12 - 15 Papua New Guinea
Final Shield Tonga 19 - 14 Papua New Guinea
Semi-Final Bowl Scotland 61 - 0 Kenya
Semi-Final Bowl Cook Islands 10 - 33 Canada
Final Bowl Scotland 10 - 5 Canada
Semi-Final Plate England 21 - 17 Samoa
Semi-Final Plate Argentina 21 - 17 Australia
Final Plate England 14 - 10 Argentina
1/4 finals Cup England 14 - 19 France
1/4 finals Cup South Africa 17 - 12 Samoa
1/4 finals Cup New Zealand 26 - 12 Argentina
1/4 finals Cup Fiji 21 - 14 Australia
Semi-Final Cup France 5 - 28 South Africa
Semi-Final Cup New Zealand 14 - 26 Fiji
Final Cup South Africa 22 - 27 Fiji
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Copyright Event Polynesia Ltd.
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