Devo Babas aim Labasa Sevens crown

The Devo Babas rugby men’s under-21 side aim to win the Fiji Bitter Labasa 7s title to develop more Northern teams.

The side started the tournament with two back-to-back wins over Green Brothers 17-0 and defeated SR Amica with the same scoreline in the second game at Subrail Park, Labasa yesterday. 

Team captain, Marika Bola, said the morale in camp is high and they intend to keep it this way.

Bola said they won both games because they stuck to the game plan which they believe needed to continue.

“We executed our game plan well and used our defense to win back penalties to score points,” he said.

Bola said despite the wins, defensive they had to polish up in some areas.

“We have to maintain this good discipline because in the later stages of the tournament, each player contributes to a good performance so losing players to cards is not an option,” he said.

Bola shared that players had to sacrifice their personal commitments to train and bond as a team prior to the tournament kick-off. 

Based in rural Vanua Levu, Bola, said they want to turn heads with their performance and play a classy brand of free-flowing Fijian rugby. 

Coach, Setareki Tukania, said the team from Bua province wants to win the title for all Northern fans.

Tukania said they had to strengthen their defensive game with more right decisions to turnover possession, make tackles to disrupt opposition attacks etc.

He said their scrums and lineouts had worked wonders in the first two games. 

When asked on the need to retain ball possession from each kick-off, Tukania, said their tall players were able to master this area quite well. 

“This is an area they want to dominate their opponents by limiting ball possession to their opponents.” 

Tukania said they had to maintain concentration while on attack and avoid silly errors like handling errors and simple missed tackles. 

He added that game management remains essential in closing out tight matches in order to advance to the knockout stages of the tournament. 

No major upsets in main grade

There were no major upsets in men’s division, where traditional heavyweights Police Blue and Army Green won in tight affairs. 

Police Blue edged Lavena Reds 12-0 and Army Green defeated Roots Exile with the same scoreline. 

Loloma Heights scored the highest points difference in their big win over Cirikalia Rugby 47-0 which showed their intent to win the main division.

Results: 

Men’s: Navunievu Brothers 12 – 0 Naulana Brothers, Police Blue 12 – 0 Lavena Reds, Army Green 12 – 0 Roots Exile, BLK Lavidi Brothers 12 – 5 Valeni Brothers, 

U21: St Theresa Nukubalavu 12 – 0 Saqani Brothers, RKSOB 19 – 0 Bluelight Labsa, Devo Babas 17 – 0 Green Brothers, Cagivou 5 – 5 Domoniwai, Nasekula Blues 5 – 0 Solove Rugby, Aloha Taveuni 17 – 5 Senidakua rugby, Aqua Pro Savuiqali 10 – 0 Nasavu Brothers, Service Rugby 0 – 22 Loloma Heights, FJ Seasalt Tav Sel 5 – 0 VBM Black Heron.