After three false starts in this year’s Skipper Cup, the Vinod Patel Ba Men’s team finally secured their first win of the season last Saturday against a very organized and impressive unit from Navosa up in the highlands.
The 26-21 victory was not without its scary moments, trailing 12-14 at the break and especially when Navosa scored their third try with 10 minutes to play. But this time, the Ba bench was held back till the closing minutes and Ben Tora’s team held on for the win.
The four-try bonus point also gave the Ba boys something to smile about as they inched their way from the lower reaches of the Skipper Cup table. That is Ba’s sixth bonus point of the season.
A brace of tries from Natalecake centre Meli Tuvusa proved to be the difference with Ba River wing Epeli Draunidalo and Sorokoba prop Allen Osborne bagging solo tries. The midfield pairing of Bruce Sautulevu and William Ryland took charge of the kicking at a tricky Vatureba Park in Keiyasi.
“This match was indeed a challenge,” BRU Secretary Gaby Kautoga said. “The team chose to travel around to Sigatoka and then up the valley to Keiyasi which is about as far as you can drive from Ba.”
“The players’ emotions at the final whistle were a mix of joy and relief to get the first win under their belts after being unable to finish off their opponents in the first three rounds.”
“We thank our neighbours Navosa for organizing the match in the highlands and putting on a good show, and we wish them well for the rest of the season.”
“Though the Skipper Cup is the highest level the Vinod Patel team plays at and we always play to win, we must remember that the other provinces are our partners at the end of the day as we all try to raise the standard of rugby in Fiji.”
Meanwhile, the Fiji Pine Ba U20s claimed their third win in a row with a hard-fought 25-20 win over the Navosa U20s.
Penaia Cokomata’s side led 15-3 at half-time and were able to resist a late surge from their hosts to pick up another win and continue their fine form from last season.
“We have had a good programme this year for our age-grade rugby players,” Talatala Gaby said. “We had 12 teams compete in our Under 20s competition back in April and May, and that doubled up as a trials for the Fiji Pine Ba U20s squad.”
“We have also been focusing on the Under 18s, and expect many of those players to stay in our system and join the Under 20s next year.”
The NEWWORLD IGA Ba Women’s team put on a terrific show against the national champions from Nasinu, falling 41-36 in a closely contested game.
The match was meant to be played in Suva at Suva Grammar or Veiuto, but ground availability and waterlogged conditions saw the match moved to Ba Methodist High School.
Ba held their own against more experienced opponents with first-half tries from Sera Tuwai, Mereseini Saliucu, Sera Bana and Rosa Wanono making it 24-24 at the break.
Nasinu got a march on Ba around the hour-mark with two scores in quick succession from halfback Varasika Tukana to lead 41-31. And with Torika Sabina red-carded and Iliseki Vonowale sitting in the sin-bin, things looked bleak.
But the 13 players of Ba rallied to score one last try to Acelina Tuwai to snatch a well-deserved bonus point.
Overall, it was an encouraging display with the physicality and courage from young players like Sainimere Liku and Merelita Memeri giving Ba hope for better results to follow.
Today, the Ba Women travel to Uprising to face Namosi at 1pm whilst the Men’s and U20s take on Malolo at Churchill Park #3 and 1pm and 3pm, respectively.
Replacement forward Torika Sabina battled through a host of Nasinu defenders. Picture: BA RUGBY
Replacement forward Torika Sabina battled through a host of Nasinu defenders to slam the ball down on the try-line. Picture: BA RUGBY
