“We’re so proud of them.”
These were the words of an emotional Fiji Rugby Union chief executive officer John O’Connor who reminisced the 32-26 final win by the Fijiana Drua against the Waratahs in the Super Rugby W final in Melbourne on Saturday.
O’Connor yesterday congratulated the women for a grand effort throughout their season.
“Firstly, one of the core reasons of success is the belief and faith that they’ve had in God.
“The win would not have been possible without the blessings of the man who we give back everything to. We return all the glory to him alone,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor said for a team, which hadn’t been tested, to produce this result is outstanding.
“We want to congratulate the girls. Us here at FRU, all the fans here and all over the world have been amazed with how our women have performed.
“The team had never been tested as such but for them to persevere and win, we are so proud of them.
“I just want to thank them from the bottom of my heart.”
O’Connor added the Fijiana Drua penciled another line into the history books of FRU and this will surely have a positive impact on women’s rugby in Fiji.
“After our Fijiana 7s won bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics we introduced a few new competitions locally. We have the under-19 10s tournament going along with the Marama Championship and it is interesting to see that 30 to 40 players attend training for some teams,” he said.
“I think the win (on Saturday) will elevate women’s rugby to another level. Everyone will support the growth.” O’Connor added that the win has now given reasons for the boys and men in the county to give more respect to the females.
“Instead of just stamping their mark, the Fijiana Drua has made the boys and men to give respect to them.
“The respect was there but the performance this season has been highly distinctive.”
The Fijiana Drua finished an invincible season winning all five pool matches and coming out on top in the final.
