THE Police side yesterday marched into history when it retained the Bayleys Fiji Coral Coast 7s title at Lawaqa Park in Sigatoka.
The 26-5 win over Wardens in a sensational final, said Police Commissioner Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho, was a morale booster for every policeman and woman in Fiji and on missions abroad.
Stretched to the wire, with five men on the field towards the tail end of the final, the Etonia Naba coached side powered through to become the first team to win the title back to back.
In the end, their resilient defence held back the Wardens.
Wardens had scored early after Police’s Manu Laqai was given his first yellow card. However, the try didn’t stop the men in blue.
Laqai had tripped a Wardens player who was without the ball and this saw referee James Bolabiu reaching for the yellow card.
The vacuum left by Laqai allowed Wardens to open the scores.
However Police didn’t stop trying and went up to 21-5 at half time, running riot over the Wardens.
Returning from the breather, Police scored another try to further their lead to 26-5 before Laqai received his second yellow card which called for a red.
This saw Wardens score their second try and just before the final whistle policemen Livai Ikanikoda and Kitione Taliga were sent to the sin bin to calm down before Bolabiu blew the whistle marking the end of the game.
Brig-Gen Qiliho said the win was a great achievement for the team especially coach Naba who recently took over the reigns from the ‘Black Pearl’ Manasa Bari.
Meanwhile, national 7s coach Ben Ryan said the final was a bit flat at times with some stops and starts, which he believes could have been because of injuries.
“I think a lot of injuries, and lots of cards took the momentum of the game but two very good sides there and it’s been three long days.
“They both looked a little bit tired but they are the two standout teams on the island at the moment, so they deservedly were in the final, and this time Police got their noses in front. But both well coached with a lot of good players.”
