The sea of red enjoyed every bit of rugby in the Sugar City as the Marist Brothers High School U18 side was crowned the new Vodafone Super Deans champions after defeating Southern Zone rivals Suva Grammar School 9-8 in thrilling and nail-biting final under heavy conditions.
The rainy weather failed to dampen the spirits of the players, who gave everything they had, and the fans, who cheered bravely for their schools. Marist kicked three penalties to scoop the prestigious title after 44 years.
It was a fairytale victory for the red brigade from Flagstaff as they qualified as the third best team from the Southern Zone.
Ironically, the red spirit downed Eastern Zone champion RKS 16-13 in the quarters, Western Zone champion Ba Provincial 17-13 in the semis and then Southern Zone champion Suva Grammar by a single point.
The beauty about Marist’s win was that the side played with 14 players after Mikaele Lewaicei was shown the red card in the second half. Despite playing with a man down, Marist displayed gutsy rugby and played their hearts out. It was evident they played for each other and believed in themselves.
Suva Grammar had the numerical advantage, but poor decision making, uncalled errors and the inability to match Marist’s tempo resulted in the heart-breaking loss.
The delight and emotions on the faces of the Marist players and ardent supporters spoke of the intensity with which the final was played.
The climax had a brilliant ending as Marist ended their 44-year-old wait. I commend the Lions for delivering a courageous performance and, I’m sure, had Philip Baselala played, the result would have gone in their favour.
Saturday’s thrilling affair has gone into the Deans history book as the Deans trophy travels to the Southern Zone after 17 years, ending the supremacy and dominance of the Eastern Zone.
Earlier during the day in the Raluve Weet-Bix Competition, Sigatoka Methodist College defeated Naitasiri Secondary School 12-10 in the U-16 final and Natabua High School overpowered neighbours Jasper Williams High School 10-5.
RKS, after the disappointing loss in the U18 grade, is the new U14 Deans champion after beating Marist Brothers 27-19.
Marist led in the first half, but lost their cool and game plan as they conceded three yellow cards in the second half, giving opportunities and the title to the warriors from Delainakaikai.
The RKS U-15 side emulated the success of their U-14 side as they defended their U-15 title after defeating neighbours and arch rivals QVS 19-12.
Going into the break, the Lodonians led 12-6, but QVS came back into the game with two well executed penalties.
However, RKS had the final say as they scored a breathtaking try to shatter the Victorians hopes and dreams of winning the title.
That loss ignited fire in the QVS camp as the U-16 side was crowned champions. The side successfully retained their title after defeating Suva Grammar School 27-12.
The Lions led 12-10 at the break, but a stern pep talk and self-belief ensured QVS came back firing to score two converted tries to put them in the lead. In the U-17 grade, Suva Grammar survived a late Marist fight-back to claim the U-17 title.
The Lions had to dig deep to beat Marist Brothers High School, which led 3-0 at the break, 8-3.
The boys from Nasese scored a try and converted a penalty in the second half and defending their try line with all their might to prevent a late Marist onslaught near the try-line.
Finally, Ra High created history after claiming the Deans U-19 title, defeating Ratu Navula College, which won the Deans U-18 title in 2013, 15-8.
Ra High became the first team from the Ba zone to win a title in the Deans.
The school, which created history last week when they edged RKS 20-18 in the semis, scored a try and converted a penalty to give them a well-deserved 8-3 lead at the break.
Ratu Navula scored a try in the second half, but Ra High’s defence held on, for the famous win, which is a milestone achievement for the school and the Ra province.
The Vodafone Deans competition was a success as a lot of talents were exposed and unearthed.
The huge crowd support from the quarters to the fi nals indicates that rugby at secondary school is striding towards greater heights. Congratulations Marist!
- Rajnesh Ishwar Lingam is a regular contributor to this newspaper and the views expressed in this article are his and not of The Fiji Times.
