War Room

Savenaca Vakaliwaliwa,  Suva

It is alarming to learn that 18 women lost their lives through domestic violence issues in Fiji in the last three years, as highlighted by the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre co-ordinator Shamima Ali on Monday.

She said of the 18 lives lost, 15 were murdered either by their partner, husbands or de facto partners, while the remaining three committed suicide.

Should we men be proud that in the last three years, we are responsible for the death of only six women per year through domestic violence?

God forbid. We should all be ashamed of ourselves because if in the last three years 18 women reportedly lost their lives; then this means domestic violence in all forms is rampant in Fiji.

Our Prime Minister and also our President have both appealed to all Fijian men to love and cherish their women; but it seems their plea are falling on deaf ears.

I watched the Christian movie War Room online on Sunday night and I believe God and prayer is the answer to all our family problems, including domestic violence.

The movie highlights that men are not the enemy but Satan is and that we need the power of God and His armour to defeat the enemy’s grip on abusive men, etc.

I call on all Christian churches and all women’s groups and if possible for all families in Fiji to watch this powerful movie: War Room and promote prayer as God’s solution to this and all our problems.

Our God is still an awesome God and when women get on their knees and reach out in prayer, His compassion moves mountains to perform miracles and the family will never be the same again.

7s Selection

Ashneel Reddy,  Lautoka

With now just one day away from the start of the first tournament of the 2017/2018 HSBC Sevens world series fans around the globe are anticipating a thrilling year of rugby sevens especially with the Commonwealth Games in Australia in April, 2018; and the Rugby Sevens World Cup in San Francisco in the United States in July, 2018.

Looking at the pre-tournament games our sevens team participated in (the Munich Sevens, Central Coast sevens and the Silicon Valley sevens) if all Fiji matches were watched carefully there was a lot of concerns in the defensive pattern which has carried on from last season and basic errors such as dropped balls, passing skills, rucks and kick offs.

In the Oceania Sevens teams like New Caledonia and American Samoa made us run around like an ordinary team due to handling errors.

The newbies in the Munich Sevens and Silicon sevens showed they lacked basic skills which makes us wonder what sort of training our sevens team is going through. For the Dubai sevens we have a selection of 7 forwards and 5 backs in the 12 men team.

It was good to see two Fijian Drua Players in the team with the likes of John Stewart and Eroni Sau; it would have been great to see Apete Daveta and Vasikeli Mudu in the team also.

Paula Dranisinukula still needs time before being exposed in the international scene as he still makes crucial errors when the team is under pressure.

I was surprised to see Samu Bale missing out as he played well in the roving position in the build-up tournaments abroad; looks like Kalione Nasoko is being tried out at the roving position.

There are four play makers in the team: Jerry Tuwai, Vatemo Ravouvou, Amenoni Nasilasila and Waisea Nacuqu. Instead he should have gone for three.

The coach might try Nacuqu on the wing which is a bold move as seen in the recent Oceania Sevens.

Nacuqu is a natural play maker he plays that position well moving him to the wing is not a good option.

Baber is still searching for wingers ever since he joined the sevens team; just makes me wonder whether we are short of natural speedy wingers in Fiji.

Teams like England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Samoa have named powerful sides to compete in the first leg.

Gareth Baber by now must have done his homework to counter oppositions. He should have gone for Apisai Domalaiali, Jasa Veremalua, Kalione Nasoko, Vasikeli Mudu and Mesulame Kunavula in the forwards while Jerry, Nacuqu and Ravouvou in the halfs, John Stewart and Samu Bale at Rover and Eroni Sau and Apete Daveta on the Wing.

Well that was my thoughts on the team. Hoping the team does well when the dust settles in Dubai on Sunday morning.

Feedback:  jyotip@fijisun.com.fj