A team of footballers who made the switch to 7s rugby has been turning heads at the 1st Fiji Bitter Serua 7s after edging prominent teams at Thomson Park in Navua.
Rio Brothers, a team of footballers from Calia settlement in Navua, showed strength and determination.
Team coach Velerio Nawatu, a former soccer Lautoka rep said he formed the team early this year since football had been inactive in their area for quite some time.
“More than half of the players here are soccer players who had never played rugby in their lives,” Nawatu said.
“When I brought up the idea of forming a 7s team, I was surprised to see that there was a lot of interest from footballers.”
Nawatu, who usually played as a mid-fielder, retired from soccer in 2020.
“All of the boys here in this settlement are originally from Serua, so bringing a team to come and play here at this competition is a way of us playing for our province.”
Before entering the competition, Nawatu said the players were aware of the participation of major teams, but this did not discourage them from competing.
“Even though this is our first tournament, the boys have been able to stand up against big teams in the tournament.
“We played against Ratu Filise in our first pool game but lost 14-22. We also managed to get a close score against Navy Blue.”
Though the Rio Brothers may have lost their pool games, they surely did make these teams work hard.
“I just want the boys to get exposed to such tournaments like this, to have a feel of a real 7s tournament.”
