Hong Kong Sevens: Fijian fans back in full voice – and they promise more to come over the weekend
- After 4 years’ wait, Hong Kong Stadium welcomes travelling fans and Fiji duly salute them with win on opening day
- ‘There’s no place in the world we would rather be. The atmosphere, the city, finally we are here again,’ says fan Vuli Savou
Vuli Savou was just one among many on Friday and among the many more to come on Saturday, but it still felt as if she was speaking for every Fijian sevens fan when she said there was only one way to describe how it felt returning to the Hong Kong Stadium.
“My gosh, it feels great,” she said. “We’re coming out of Covid-19, and we’re ready. There’s no place in the world we would rather be. The atmosphere, the city, it has been four year of waiting for us and now, look, finally we are here again.”
It has been four years between Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens for Savou and her posse of about 10 fellow travellers. They took the long way here, through Singapore and over a stretch that lasted about 24 hours but seemed so much longer.
They’re expecting many more to join them when the first direct flight from Nadi to Hong Kong since the pandemic eased lands on Saturday, and what will greet them will be a Fijian team who showed that they are here to right a wrong.
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Hong Kong Sevens rugby returns, kicking off 3 days of partying
Going for six straight Hong Kong Sevens titles back in November they let Australia score and win 20-17 at the death.
On Friday, against a lively Samoa in Pool A, it looked for all the world like the Fijians had been focusing on defence as they stymied wave after wave of attack, and walked away 12-7 winners.
“That’s a real banana skin game,” Ben Gollings, the Fiji coach, said. “We know that they are a world-class team. They proved that all year. And for us to come out here and play the way we did was fantastic. We controlled the game.
“We talked about them being opportunists, and that’s where that try came from. But the defence was really impressive and we stuck at it. And we managed to keep them out, which was fantastic. And then in attack, we took our opportunities. So it’s a great way to start this weekend.”
For Savou and her friends in the West Stand, sheltered from the rain, the victory brought a sense of relief and then sheer joy as they stood and waved their flags and took in the scene.
“The party has started, but we have more friends coming in tomorrow and we will get together again and then you will really hear some noise,” Savou said. “For Fiji, this tournament means everything.”
The tournament’s traditional great entertainers were almost outdone by Samoa, who went behind early but kept attacking and who – in a try finished off by Neueli Leitufia and started with the ball being ping-ponged around between players in midfield – have an early contender for try of the tournament.
But Fiji dug deep when needed, had the likes of Ratu Manueli Maisamoa throwing themselves with sheer abandon into every tackle, and got tries through Joseva Talacolo and Pilipo Bukayaro to seal the win.
Now comes Saturday, and an early clash against Canada, followed by a crunch match-up against an Argentina side who bounced them from cup contention at the past two tournaments in Los Angeles and Toronto.
“We set a platform now, just in that first one,” Gollings said. “Every game, we’ve got to get better. We’ve been working hard on defence and it’s such a key area of the game and it was fantastic. We’ll have plenty of rest now. So we can go and regroup.”
