Today’s first day of the PMG rugby sevens competition is heating up to be a real thriller with the best regional teams vying for the gold medal.
BCI stadium is the place to be to catch the action as 10 teams go head to head for sevens supremacy..
Team Fiji is the biggest threat in this competition as sevens rugby has become the nation’s national sport.
While the word is that the team here for the two-day sevens competition is not Fiji’s best national side, they are still expected to be classy and fast.
Fiji has been drawn in Pool A along with Tahiti, Niue, Wallis and Fortuna and hosts the Cook Islands.
Pool B includes Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia.
The Cook Islands fields a talented side of players from Rarotonga and three stars from Aitutaki.
Injured all-rounder Terry Piri fronted a media conference yesterday and was calm and confident.
“Fiji and Samoa are fielding their number one teams, so PNG and us are the underdogs, really,” he said. “Anything can happen for underdogs.”
Asked how his team would cope with finals pressure, and the expectation of the home crowd for a victory, he said, “We won’t worry about the crowd. We’ll just give it 100 percent.”
The Cook Islands team is a combination of experienced players like Koiatu Koiatu and Bruce Goldsworthy plus young talents including 17-year-old Tatuava Tatuava of Tupapa, who Piri said that he and the team is proud of.
The youngster has turned up to training right throughout the build up to make it into the final squad.
Tatuava is the only newcomer to the team and it will be a proud moment when he plays in front of his family and friends.
It was also significant, Piri said, that three Aitutaki players had made the sevens squad including former international representative Messine Manapori and Cook Islands Sports Academy students Alex Roa and Teu Paerau.
Alex Roa was one of the standout players in the Avatiu-Nikao rugby clubs championship win this year and will no doubt be a playmaker for the Cooks in this sevens competition.
While little is known about the remaining regional teams, one thing is for sure – they are not to be underestimated.
So don’t miss out on the sevens fever and get your tickets now and get to the BCI stadium. - Matariki Wilson: Cook Islands News
Last Modified on 04/10/2009 11:26