It was a proud moment for Team Fiji women’s rugby sevens rep Luisa Tisolo as she scored the country’s first try in the Olympic Games.

After a bullet start in their pool opener against United States of America (USA) at Deodoro Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil yesterday, Tisolo bursts through a gap and ran unchallenged all the way to the try line for a glorious try, which she converted for a 7-0 lead.

The Naqarani lass from Noco in Rewa told SUNsports she was excited after scoring the country’s first try in the Olympics.

“When we came in we had a lot of respect for Team USA but scoring Fiji’s first try in the Olympics is a wonderful experience,” Tisolo said.

“I want to dedicate that try to my people in Naqarani, Noco in Rewa.”

The Fijians continued the momentum in the second spell as they executed their set pieces well and were ruthless in defence.

Strong tackles made by Lavenia Tinai and Timaima Ravisa saw them ripped the ball away from the Americans.

With those possessions, Ravisa was able to break away from the defence and scooted to the corner for their second try, which was not converted.

With a 12-0 lead, there was a lapse of concentration among the Fijian players which saw them commit a few unforced errors and also thy took wrong options, which allowed USA to hit back with a try to Alev Kelter and converted by Akalani Baravilala to leave the final score of 12-7.

Hold your heads high, says coach

Team Fiji women’s rugby sevens head coach Chris Cracknell believes his side failed to maintain their attacking game plan, which saw them suffer a 36-0 loss to Australia in their second pool match yesterday.

“The Australians got to it and the girls were just defending and not attacking,” he said.

Following the game against Australia, Cracknell told the players to keep holding their heads high and focus on their next match.

The Fijians take on Colombia at 4am today in a must win encounter if they are to be in medal contention.

“Our target is a win against Colombia to qualify for the quarterfinals and strengthen our attacking game. We will need to freshen up and at the end of the day we can always control what we can control,” Cracknell added.

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