Former Australian Wallabies great Lote Tuqiri has commended Yaro Chiefs and Ravuka Sharks as teams that stood out for him during the McDonald’s Coral Coast Fiji 7s over the weekend.
Tuqiri said both teams displayed exceptional performances, as he shared his sentiments on them prior to the cup semi-finals and final taking place last Saturday.
“It’s been great, I don’t think one of the local teams has ever won the tournament for a long time now,” Tuqiri shared.
“Yaro (Chiefs) is actually looking pretty good, I think Ravuka (Sharks) are alright as well.”
He also highlighted how local teams had come out strongly in the tournament, even winning over the Fiji Babas, the shadow national 7s side.
“That’s what’s good about these tournaments; it gives an opportunity for young local boys to show what they have got.
He then commended the local teams for putting up a determined fight in this year’s tournament and how he hoped either the Yaro Chiefs or Ravuka Sharks would make Nadroga proud.
“I’m really looking forward to hopefully seeing Yaro or Ravuka take it out,” he said then.
Yaro Chiefs would ultimately do so, beating the Ravuka Sharks 28-12 in an intense cup final.
In that match, the Chiefs had to flip the status quo of the game, trailing 0-12 during the first half and then taking the lead before half-time.
While the Ravuka Sharks fell short of a win, their performance in the Coral Coast 7s garnered widespread support as the Yadua-based side commanded two wins over the New Zealand Development 7s team in the pool and cup quarter-final matches and beat the star-studded McDonald’s Mike Friday Select 7s team 14-12 in the cup semi-final.
