The 36th Fiji Bitter Nawaka 7s tournament next month will give players a chance to bid for selection into the national training squad ahead of the HSBC World Rugby Hong Kong 7s.
The Nawaka 7s will be played at Prince Charles Park in Nadi from February 3-4 while the Hong Kong 7s will be staged from March 31 to April 2 in So Kon Po.
A total of 48 teams will participate in the two-day Nawaka 7s.
Nawaka Rugby Club president Eparama Sailo said they hoped to unearth more young talents during their tournament.
“This will be the most important tournament for the players who are vying for a spot in the national team as the Hong Kong 7s will be held soon after that,” Sailo said.
“It will be a good platform for them to showcase their talents. Hopefully they will be included in the national training squad or even the national team for Hong Kong.”
The tournament will also feature categories for Fellow Fijians, women’s and under-21 men’s. Sailo said they were not able to do any community projects in the past few years.
“Many of our projects have been on hold because of the COVID-19 restrictions,” he said.
“So that was our biggest setback last year and the year before.
“We will continue with the junior development at Nawaka Village. The aim is to buy the juniors and developing players their playing equipment.
“We are hoping that this year we can have a bigger and better Nawaka 7s tournament.”
