The Suva rugby team had too much firepower for Rewa with an 18-8 win during their Skipper Cup Premiership clash at Bidesi ground yesterday. Playing under heavy ground con­ditions Suva took control right from the start with their big for­wards doing the damage upfront

What happened: Rewa’s failure to keep possession saw them back­pedalling as they were pressured by the Suva defence.

In the 20th minute from a lineout move the Suva forwards pushed their way to the tryline with No.8 Jitoko Usamaki claiming the try as Mosese Tikoduadua’s conver­sion went over for a 7-0 lead. Tikod­uadua was again on target in the 39th minute with his first penalty.

Halftime: Suva 10-0 Rewa

Rewa shocked the hosts in the opening minutes when fullback Deve Apenisa sliced his way past the Suva defence to score their first try which was not converted.

Leading 10-5, the Suva forwards did not panic as they drove into the Rewa territory and from a scrum, Usamake crashed over to score his second try and extend the lead to 15-5.

Tikoduadua kicked over his sec­ond penalty to leave the scores at 18-5 before Rewa hit back with Seru Vaniqi penalty in the 70th minute.

Star Turn: Suva No.8 Usamaki scored twice for Suva as they held on to win.

Big Play: The big Suva forwards kept a tight control and never al­lowed Rewa to play their usual running game.

Comments: Suva assistant coach Sakaraia Labalaba said: “We had been preparing well for the game against Rewa and we knew that in every game they played it was al­ways a tough match.

“For Suva we had to keep chang­ing our line-up which shows the pool of players that we have.”

Rewa coach Ro Alivereti Doviver­ata said: “We went up against a very experienced Suva side and our ball control was not that per­fect today. We had opportunities but we knocked the ball forward. The weather is something that we cannot control, we had to play to the conditions and Suva played to their advantage and won.”

Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

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