The inaugural ANZ Bosco Trophy Challenge was launched yesterday by the Fiji Rugby Union as it marked another milestone step towards the development of women’s rugby.
The top four teams from the Marama Championship – Suva, Namosi, Yasawa and Nadi – will battle for the trophy named after a legend of the game in Fiji.
Former Flying Fijians captain and national coach Pio Bosco Tikoisuva graced the event and agreed for his name to be associated with the new competition.
Pio Bosco, as he is commonly known, was a pioneer of women’s rugby in Fiji.
“His influence on women’s rugby in Fiji is undeniable. His keen observation during his post-retirement playing days for St. Johns Marist, where players’ wives supported their husbands, sparked a pivotal moment,” said former FRU’s women’s rugby development officer Divela Naucukidi.
“At the time I was reading the involvement of women in rugby in New Zealand and Australia, there was a tournament in Tokyo that inspired me to suggest the participation of women in Fiji Rugby,” Pio Bosco stated.
“Those people who said that women should be in the kitchen and not on the ground should now observe what the Fijiana is doing and achieved in rugby throughout the world. That is what we want every rugby team including the men to be achieving, to be up there and achieve a lot, so I’m really glad that the Fijiana is on that course.”
ANZ continued its partnership with women’s rugby.
“Where I come from, we are traditionalist and the things said about women’s rugby in the past is a usual practice from where I come from but for ANZ, we are thankful to be associated with the Pio Bosco name and with this competition,” ANZ head of centralised lending and financial inclusion Sitiveni Marovia stated.
