THE island teams were impressive in the two-day Fiji Bitter Marist 7s tournament on the weekend.
Tournament chairman Lawrence Tikaram was impressed with how the teams performed and it should be a lesson to other well-known teams.
“So many teams stood out on both days but what I want to really say is that I salute the island teams they came in and showcased their talent and it was unfortunate for one of the biggest team First Light Taveuni not make it in the finals, but that really shows the difference in the level of competition.
“It shows the intensity and it’s a total new level of playing field altogether. These teams stole the hearts of the fans because they came prepared for the past months and this is what I stressed to the managers of the teams, that the players are doing the hard yard and as officials we need to do our part and make sure they get to the tournament on time and support them,” Tikaram said.
Tikaram spoke on how Tabadamu the three-time champions were instrumental in the final against Army.
“Tabadamu are a strong team and it’s good to see a team that been put together and compile that level of competition.
“It was very unfortunate for Army to lose in the final it was a tough game and the yellow cards and nowadays if you have a yellow card you can consider yourself automatic out of the game.
“It is too competitive, you need all seven players to play as a unit and I thought it was unfortunate that Army had missed out because they really deserve to be there, but I think the indiscipline cost them and it showed in the final because Tabadamu stood their ground held their patience and played the game right.
“And having a yellow card in local level can also transmit in what can happen in the global level and I hope the coaches will look into those matters.
“We also looked at the fact while we welcome overseas teams we also concentrate on our grassroots and I will continue support grassroots rugby,” he said.
Tikram said for the past six years this year’s Marist tournament was the biggest of them all.
“The response from the wider community was positive as they came to support the grassroots teams.
“We had the capacity crowd on Saturday and we were blessed with a beautiful weather and I thank the Lord for that but mostly I thank the teams and I am sure the fans who turned up were happy with the performance and to watch the high calibre of rugby.
“To have the national coach grace the occasion and picking the best player of the tournament was the icing on the cake and that shows that Gareth Baber sees a lot of value in our tournament
He said one the biggest areas of concern for them was that some managers were not performing their duties
“We will get a coaching clinic on how managers and technical officials perform their duties as it helps in the smooth running of the tournament.
“Simple things like filling out the proper team list and marking the names of the substitutes and plugging in the correct name of the jersey because all this triangulate back to the media and they can comment on a player that is not playing. All these things are administrative skills that the managers and officials need to step up to so we need to provide discipline in the grassroots level that will transit in the international level.