This team survives by the phrase ‘one event does not define the team,’ they al­ways try harder to go one step-up.

Natabua High School principal, Viren Sharma made this com­ment following the school’s Un­der-18 rugby boys win against Cuvu College in the Western Zone Deans semifinal over the week­end.

Natabua High School won 29-21 in a torrid encounter to secure a spot in the national quarterfinals.

It was in 2019 when the school’s U18 team last made it into the na­tional quarters.

Sharma said it was a proud mo­ment for the team to beat Cuvu College.

He said the current team had en­dured many challenging times in terms of player availability, cross trainings– athletics and rugby- in­juries in the team.

“During our journey to the finals for the Western Zone, the team has had shocking defeats along the way while playing rugby league and rugby union,” he said.

“One thing admirable about this team is their eagerness to learn, their ‘never give up’ attitude and always looking ahead to better times.”

“With the blessings of the Al­mighty we might proceed further than the previous years.”

“One thing good about the Un­der-18 qualifying for the national quarters is that it gives a lot of confidence to the lower grades.”

“When their seniors are in the quarterfinals, we look forward for better things to happen to us.”

He said the team’s aim was to im­prove their future performances.

“Our objective this year is to bet­ter our performances from the last time we played in the national quarters.

“The team is trying their best not to disappoint the support group of the school and do all it can to go up a notch higher in the competitions,” Sharma added.

“Our strength is and will be these boys and the coaches.”

“They are always eager to learn from their mistakes and rectify them in the next game.”

The team takes on Ba Provincial Free Bird Institute in the West­ern Zone final at Nadi’s Prince Charles Park on Saturday.

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