Tag: Fiji Rugby

SUPREME FIJI LIFT DUBAI TITLE

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Emirates Dubai Rugby 7s 2015

Emirates Dubai Rugby 7s 2015

The vibe this year at the Dubai 7s was as vibrant as ever with lots of fun and cheer – for me the best part was our Fiji team reached the final – Fiji beat England 28-17 in the Cup final of the opening round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series much to the delight of Fiji fans.

Fiji came from 7-0 behind to win the opening round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, beating England 28-17 in a pulsating final at The Sevens Stadium.

Shereen Shabnam dubai rugby 7s

Tom Bowen had given Simon Amor’s side an early lead but Fiji turned on the style scoring four unanswered tries to give them only their second-ever Dubai title, and first since 2013, despite a late comeback from the 2010 and 2011 Dubai champions.

Ben Ryan tasted victory in Dubai for a fourth time in six years as he saw his side in scintillating form all day, beating New Zealand 19-5 with tries from Viliame Mata, Pio Tuwai and Jasa Veremalua in the semi-finals, and Australia 19-12 in their quarter-final with tries from Isake Kotanibau, captain Osea Kolinisau and Savenaca Rawaca.

The win puts Ben Ryan’s side on top of the series standings with 22 points, ahead of England (19), USA (17) New Zealand (15). South Africa won the Plate, France took the Bowl and the Shield went to Canada.

The USA, who made history on day one with their first-ever win over New Zealand, showed it wasn’t fluke with a second win in as many matches against Sir Gordon Tietjens’s side. Will Holder scored twice, and tries from Folau Niua, Kevin Swiryn and Perry Baker put the icing on the cake for Mike Friday.

HOUGAARD STEALS IT AT THE DEATH IN THE PLATE

South Africa stole the Plate by beating Australia 19-14 in sudden death extra time of the Plate final. Having trailed 14-0 through tries from Sam Myers and Ed Jenkins, the Blitzboks hit back to draw level through two Kwagga Smith tries, the second with the last play of normal time. Francois Hougaard then stole the headlines, darting over the try line in the corner to the delight of captain Kyle Brown and his teammates.

BOUHRAOUA BOWL TRIUMPH

Julien Candelo struck twice as France beat Scotland 24-14 to win the Bowl title on day two of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens. The victory meant France won all three of their match on the second day of action at 7he Sevens Stadium after earlier victories over Russia and Kenya.

CANADA END DUBAI WITH THE SHIELD

John Moonlight lifted Canada’s first piece of silverware of the season as his side beat Japan 19-17 in the final thanks to two tries from Admir Cejvanovic and one from Harry Jones was enough to hold off the Brave Blossoms.

A taste of Fiji Islands comes to UAE

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Cocktail evening at Intercontinental Hotel DFC- Little diva @NJD2000 with Fiji Prime Minister

 

Fijian smiles are the best 🙂 – UAE based Fijians welcomed the FIJI PM

Today is an awesome day for Fijians living in the UAE – we finally have an Embassy in Abu Dhabi. After nearly 12 years in UAE and explaining to everyone we meet where Fiji is, what the country is all about etc, we can now have access to resources at the Embassy to give out to people who want to know more about our beautiful paradise. 

I am particularly overjoyed that my ex-colleague from Fiji High Commission Kuala Lumpur, Emosi is part of the team in Abu Dhabi and I know from past experience he will make big things happen for Fiji in the region.

I remember a couple of years ago when the Prime Minister visited us in Dubai and the look on people’s face when he met them as they found him to be the most humble and friendliest of people ever. I recall us going shopping in DFC when the airline lost the PM’s luggage and the sales people were so overjoyed at being able to serve him. In fact, that is a trade mark of the Fijians. The warmth radiates from our soul and people pick that up so easily.

We had organised a wonderful function for him and his delegation at the Intercontinental Hotel in DFC where City 7 did an awesome programme on Fiji which was aired in UAE for the first time. I had a call from Ron who was the head of the TV station last night who was delighted to hear that PM was in UAE again and he reiterated that our PM was one of the most wonderful people he met after featuring hundreds of VIPs on his channels. Thanks to Regina, another superb islander, we had some wonderful times talking about how great it would be to have a bigger presence for Fiji in the UAE….now its come to reality.

The best thing about our PM is that he is a doer. After promising an Emirati friend who is married to a Fijian that he will make sure Emirati’s will not need a visa when they go to Fiji from then on, he kept his promise and today the Galadari family is one of the biggest advocates of Fiji Islands in the UAE and have returned to Fiji with other Emirati families in tow who continually talk about how incredibly beautiful our country is.

We may be a small nation but we certainly think big…we are proud of legends like Waisale Serevi in rugby 7s, Vijay Singh for golf and of course my friends at NTDE will tell you the many benefits of drinking FIJI water and how delighted they are to have supporting research for a product they market to show it really is the fountain of youth in its purest form.

As islanders, every Fijian is an advocate of our nation no matter which part of the world they go to…when people ask me why I don’t take a British passport after being married to one for 15 years, I don’t flinch a minute and say how proud I am to be a Fijian and how exotic and beautiful our country is that I never saw a need to.

It certainly is a celebratory time for Fijians the next few days and we welcome everyone in the UAE to get a taste of paradise when they are next thinking of taking a holiday. It will be totally worth it. 🙂

With my favourite Fijians 🙂

Fijians in UAE at Dubai Rugby 7s – bringing Fijians together

Natasha NJD2000 loves the rugby 7’s Fiji team