Asinate Reflects On Fijiana’s Maiden World Cup
Leading the Fijiana in two matches at the women’s Rugby World Cup in Auckland, New Zealand has been an honour for the Qarani, Gau native Asinate Serevi.
The daughter of the sevens rugby magician Waisale Serevi had captained Fiji to their first victory 21-17, against South Africa and their exiting game against France.
The dual international was honoured to be given the captaincy role.
Despite an early exit, the Fijianas’ maiden World Cup was history making.
“It’s been a blessing,” Asinate said.
“I can’t thank God enough for giving me the opportunity to do so. Not everyone gets to play for USA, not everyone gets to play for Fiji.
“My goal was to play in the World Cup with the Fijian girls and then being named as captain was a whole different turn for me.
“I’m just blessed that the coaches believed in me that I was able to lead the girls on to the field for the last two games.
“It’s an honour to wear the white jersey, and we’re very grateful for our supporters, we’re grateful to our family and friends who have been with us throughout this whole journey.”
First World Cup
Serevi has acknowledged the support shown at their World Cup campaign.
“It’s never easy coming to your first World Cup as an individual and as a team, but we want to take this time to thank God for this opportunity to play on the big stage. We thank all our fans for coming up to support us last weekend.
“We do apologise for the loss but we’re so grateful for all the support – we also thank his Excellency the President of Fiji Ratu Wiliame Maivalili Katonivere who was here as well.
“We appreciate his support, coming all the way out here to support the girls. We’re beyond grateful for the opportunity.”
On route to New Zealand
The Fijianas’ journey to the World Cup was not an easy one.
Not having more game time and Test matches against the world’s best was one of the many challenges.
“Before the World Cup we were only able to play in Oceania – against Tonga, Samoa, Papua New Guinea.
“We had a game against the Maori wahine, and also Canada.
“Playing England and France in pool games in the World Cup is huge for Fiji itself and I’m proud of the girls for how far we’ve come.”
World Cup 2025
“It’s the end for us. But you’ll be seeing more of Fijiana – we’re still coming up the ladder. The talent and skillset we have as a team right now, I know that in moving forward we’ll have that and we also need a lot more games than we’ve had coming into the World Cup.
“We’re already looking forward to the next World Cup. I believe that we can go further and get into the quarter-finals and make it further than we did this year.”
Feedback: sereana.salalo@fijisun.com.fj
