It will be a battle of legacy and creating history in the under-18 final of the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union Vodafone Deans Competition next weekend.
Queen Victoria School and Nasinu Secondary School survived their respective semi-final matches yesterday to set up an Eastern v Southern final next Saturday at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva.
QVS is playing to maintain its winning legacy while Nasinu is gunning for its first Deans U18 title.
Two quality semi-final matches were witnessed yesterday in Laucala as fans were kept at the edge of their seats from the first whistle.
It was a tit for tat encounter in the first semi-final between Nasinu and Cuvu College, with the lone Southern Zone survivor coming out victorious 33-20.
Nine tries were scored in the match with five coming from Nasinu.
They scored three tries in a span of 18 first half minutes to lead 21-5 before Cuvu responded with exceptional handling skills and support to cross over twice.
Cuvu closed the gap to 20-21 with a try to set an explosive start to the second spell but Nasinu had the final say with two more tries to seal the win.
With the tempo of the game high, the second semi-final match lived up to expectations as Ratu Navula College and QVS played their hearts out in front of a packed crowd.
QVS held on to win 17-11.
With an 8-9 scoreline in favour of QVS at halftime, it was anybody’s game in the second spell as both teams got points on the board through penalties.
QVS led 12-11 before Saimoni Vaisova pounced on a lineout mistake by Ratu Navula to score their only try.
This try made all the difference as QVS defended for their life in the dying minutes to sail to yet another Deans final.
In the Wheet-bix Raluve U18 competition, Adi Cakobau School edged Bucalevu Secondary School 12-5 while Natabua High School beat last year’s winner Dawasamu Secondary 27-22.
