The Fiji Secondary School Rugby League girls U19 grand finale tomorrow is going to be nothing short of a bruiser.
The battle at Ratu Cakobau Park will pit two schools who used unconventional training methods to fight their way to the business-end of competition.
Lomaivuna Raiders, which trained on dirt roads and the seaside, will take on the Namosi Titans, a team whose members derived their fitness from farm work.
The game is promising to be nothing short of a thriller. Lomaivuna Raiders captain Karalaini Boteibureni said they have been training for almost two months, from straight after the zone completion.
The 18-year-old said they faced a lot of challenges like poor ground conditions.
“But we managed to use the road and the seaside for training, and it got us fit and ready,” she said.
“This is my first time playing this sport, I’m really excited and we will give it our best to win, and make our school proud.”
Namosi Titans skipper Mereani Kuru said most of the girls in the team worked in farms in the weekends and “we mostly got our fitness from there.”
“I’ve always loved watching rugby and to participate in the sport is really a dream come true,” she said.
“Coming onto the field and working as a team to win the finals is our main aim.
“Like every other team, we also want to make our teachers, parents and all the school supporters proud.”
The finals begin at 10am tomorrow. Meanwhile, all participating schools in the finals of the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby League Vodafone Trophy were boosted by the major sponsor yesterday.
All eight finalists were given new jersey’s to wear on the finals day tomorrow.
This is the first time something of this sort has been done.
The jersey’s also have on them the dates and names of teams featuring in the final with the date and venue details.
