The top eight teams from the Apco Western State 9s at Prince Charles Park in Nadi on tomorrow will qualify for the Fiji 9s Cup on April 16.
They will join the top eight teams from the Eastern State 9s for the national championship which will serve as the final qualifier for the Fiji International 9s which will be held at Lawaqa Park in Sigatoka on November 11-12.
Only the four top teams from the APCO Fiji 9s Cup will qualify for the Fiji International 9s.
Western State 9s tournament director Vela Tawake said 20 men’s, four women’s and six youth teams would participate in the tournament.
“A total of 30 teams will converge at Prince Charles Park for a bigger and better 9s tournament,” Tawake said.
“The Eastern State 9s has set the pace. It will be anyone’s game this Saturday. This is not the 13s game where traditional rivalries are easy to determine.
“We expect to see more younger and faster players who have emerged in the last two years. They will make the games more exciting.”
Tawake said the youth competition, which features players in the under-19 grade, to be a crowd drawer during the school holidays.
“The high school students will be available to their clubs,” he said.
