Do or die for Skipper eliminations: Waqa

Fiji Rugby Union board chairman John Sanday has highlighted that there would be two spots available for Vanua teams to qualify for this season’s Skipper Cup competition.

He made the comment during the launching of the Vodafone Vanua Cup Elimination at the Wesley Church Hall, Suva, yesterday.

“The best of our Vanua teams will battle it out, not just for pride, but for two coveted spots in the Skipper Cup,” the former Flying Fijians No.8 said.

“Two zones, from the top 16 teams, 12 teams here in Viti Levu and four teams in Vanua Levu, will determine who rises to the next level.”

Sanday said the Vanua teams in Viti Levu would face a one-off elimination, while Vanua Levu teams would use a round robin format.

FRU acting chief operations Talemo Waqa said they are expecting a tough competition.

“It will be a do-or-die situation. The winner will qualify for a spot in the Skipper and from the 12 teams, six teams will go up to the next round. That means there will be three games next week. From there, will be a round-robin between the two teams to determine who will be the winner,” he said.

Waqa said the Vanua Levu conference starts their competition next weekend.

“We have Macuata, the number 1 team, and then we have Cakaudrove, Bua and Taveuni. They are going to work through a single elimination, one round-robin and whoever has the most wins, will be the representative from Vanua Levu. This is the outlook that the board of directors and our chairman has put forth.”

He said they wanted the North to always have a team and to maintain a certain level due to the talent pool of players coming out of Vanua Levu, Taveuni, Kioa and the neighbouring islands.

FIXTURES

Matches for Saturday- 3pm Vatukoula vs Coastland at Theodore Park; Tavua v Yasawa at Garvey Park; Ra v Northland at Narauyaba Sports Ground; Rewa v Northern Bulls; Burebasaga v Namosi at Thompson Park; Nasinu v Serua at Uprising Sports Centre, Pacific Harbour.