THE Uprising Youth 7s team is ready to compete and win the 2017 Uprising Youth 7s tournament to be held at Lawaqa Park in Sigatoka later this month.
Team official Eneriko Cakaunivalu said the idea was to give more competition to age-group teams so they could be fully developed for the future.
“We have seen rugby players when after leaving school are not given much competition and then end up in the senior side. In most schools they play soccer apart from rugby and once they leave school they have less competition,” he said.
“By giving them more competition we will help them fully develop and ready to represent our senior side.
“It is a pathway for them and they have to prove themselves and better their skills before playing in the main team.”
Cakaunivalu said the side had prepared well.
“We do not have big names in the team but have young players who are keen to learn more and ready to showcase their talents. We are taking the underdog tag in the tournament and the players are being trained by Franck Boivert and Rene Munch,” he said.
“We have reached the semi-final last year and this year we want to go a step further and win the competition.
“The boys are confident of a good outing.”
The four-day event rugby festival starts with the Uprising Youth 7s on January 18-19 followed by the 2017 Mana Whey Coral Coast 7s from January 20-21.
