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History at Oceania Sevens as Samoa and Fiji book their tickets to Paris 2024
Samoa and Fiji have booked their tickets to Paris 2024 after winning their respective Olympic qualifying finals at the Oceania Sevens at Brisbane’s Ballymore Stadium.
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For the first time ever, the Samoan men’s sevens team are off to the world’s biggest sporting show after recording a commanding 24-nil win over Papua New Guinea in a one-sided final.
To their credit, PNG took it to their heavily favoured opponents right from the get-go. The Pukpuks controlled possession for most of the first minute, but it was all Samoa from there.
BJ Lima opened the scoring early in the first term, and tries to Taunuu Niuleavaea and Pelasio Samuelu Niuula all but won the match for Manu Samu before the end of the half.
With the final play of the first half, Samuelu Niuula slammed the ball down with authority as the significance of what this team appeared destined to achieve began to sink in.
The second term was a bit more of a battle, with point-scoring opportunities proving hard to come by for both teams. Individual brilliance from Faafoi Falaniko was the difference.
Falaniko created something special from nothing. The Samoan international kicked the ball behind the PNG defensive line and chased it with purpose, and he reaped the rewards.
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While the ball initially appeared set to race for the dead ball line – Falaniko gave it everything just 25 metres out from the try line – the ball sat up perfectly for the score.
Moments later, the full-time siren sounded on a beautiful afternoon in Brisbane and the Samoan supporters, players and coaches soaked up their achievement.
“The siren has gone and history-making, legacy created – Samoa, the first time in their history, stamped a ticket to the Olympics in Paris next year,” Stan Sport commentator Jordan Hughes said.
“What a moment for Samoa. The Islands will be going berserk now, you can see what it means to them. This is special.”
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With everything on the line, Samoa had lived up to their ‘favourites’ status to take out the Oceania Olympic Final, but the hard work has only “just begun.”
BJ Lima was interviewed just after the full-time siren had sounded. You could see the emotion draped across his face as the try-scorer tried to find the words to summarise the moment.
“First of all I give thanks back to the man above for His love and His protection. None of this would be possible without our families,” Lima said on Stan Sport.
“This whole week we’ve felt the support and we just want to say thank you.
“I think the hard works just begun.”
About 15 minutes later – following the Australia women’s win over a New Zealand development side – Fiji and Papua New Guinea ran out onto Ballymore for their date with Olympics destiny.
Fiji ended up winning this final by an emphatic scoreline of 54-nil.
After just 10 seconds, disaster struck for PNG. A yellow card saw the Pukpuks drop to a one-player disadvantage – and Fiji made the most of it.
Alowesi Nakoci scored the first points of the Olympics decider inside two minutes, and Fijiana added another two later on to take a hard-earned lead into the break.
Raijieli Daveua danced through the PNG defensive line with a brilliant goosestep before throwing a heart-stopping pass to Ana Naisami to complete the score closer to the sticks.
Moments later, Nakoci pounced on a loose ball to cross for a brace. Fiji had raced out to a seemingly unassailable 21-nil advantage on the back of a two-try blitz late in the half.
Fiji piled more point-scoring misery on their opponents with Daveua crossing for her second. Truly, that try was something special – slicing through the defensive line on the back of some rapid pace and brilliant skill.
More try-scoring fun saw the Fijiana complete their relentless 54-point demolition of the previously undefeated Papua New Guinea side.
“It concludes a speculator match for Fiji, who are heading to the Paris 2024 Olympics,” commentator Martin Lippiatt said.
Comments on RugbyPass
If Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
69 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
1 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
2 Go to commentsIt is crystal clear that people who make such threats on line should be tried and imprisoned. Those with responsibility in social media companies who don’t facilitate this should be convicted. In real life, I have free speech to approach someone like Reinach and verbally threaten him. I am risking a conviction or a slap but I could do it. In the old days, If someone anonymously threatened someone by letter the police would ask and use evidence from the postal system. Unlike the Post, social media companies have complete instant and legal access to the content in social media. They make money from the data, billions. Yet, they turn a blind eye to terrorism, Nazi-ism and industrial levels of threats against individuals including their address and childrens schools being published online all from ananoymous accounts not real people. They claim free speech. Free speech for anonymous trolls/voilent thugs threatening people under false names? The fault is with the perps but also social media companies who think anonymous personas posting death threats constitutes free speech.
2 Go to commentsSo if this ain’t the best Irish team ever then who exactly is? I don’t remember any other Irish team being this good & winning a series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes I may rip them often for 8 X QF RWC exits & twice not even making it to the QF, but they’re a damn good team who many think can only improve, including me!
69 Go to commentsNot a squeek out of Leinster for weeks about this match. So quiet. The first team have been quitely building for this encounter under Nienaber’s direction. All fresh, all highly motivated. They are expecting a season’s best performance from Northhampton. They will match that. They will be fresher and apparently they will have 80,000 out of the 83,000 shouting for them. I do expect Northhampton to turn up big time. Not to be missed. On a tangent it is evident how the loss of a few Premiership teams has in some respect helped other Premiership teams and England. More quality over less teams makes the teams better, which has a knock on effect on England. Not the only factor contributing to England’s rise but one of them.
2 Go to commentsOur very own monster teddy bear Ox😍💪
17 Go to commentsThis is might be the most generalised, entitled, patronising, out-of-pocket cultural indictment on a group of people you’ll ever see on what is supposedly a sports publication. I can only assume the author is weak like a woman or homosexual. I’m feeling an incredible range of emotions but I am not quite sure how to express them. I might go beat up a hockey player - assuming that’s okay with Duane and the boys? 🙂
9 Go to commentsBest thing the Welsh clubs could do is apply to join Gallagher prem surely be more exciting matches for there support than they have now.
2 Go to commentsRugbyPass writers are useless! you guys should get a real job because you all suck at writing about rugby!!!
9 Go to commentslooking forward to RWC2027 …. Boks on mission impossible for the Three-in-a-row, ABs to prove they being on par, France wishing to crown the “DuPont-era”, Ireland knocking on the Semi-Door ….. until then we’ll probably have to deal with Weird Ben’s fantasy-RWC23 (fun fact is, the drivel always creates a flooding of comments) …..
222 Go to commentsBen Smith you really make some good points in this article, the Springboks were not close to perfect and good still beat the All Blacks, imagine if they were as good as they were against France what a hiding the All Blacks would have gotten… maybe another Twickenham drubbing
222 Go to commentsIt is a good argument to keep the Rebels for one more year but also isnt this just opening the door as well for keeping them beyond 2025. If they can create some sort of financial stability in the next year and if their performances lift as they have this season then how would RA even cull them after that? It might be the most cost effective decision at this stage and perhaps many people are guilty of keeping relationships going because of the cost to decouple but then again when does that ever work out well?
29 Go to commentsDear Ben Smith you are a genius! God please become the next all blacks coach that can take on the mighty BOKS. Your rugby acumen is second to none - imagine your dads sperm bounced as unfortunately as that oval ball did….we would not be blessed with your presence. Just as the all blacks were missing a man you too are missing a chromosome for 80% of your life, so your insights are not only profound but ring true from your own experiences. Just as the TMO interfered with citing an illegal pass I am sure your local authorities interfere with your illegal passes you make on women - How dare they!!! God forbid that rugby be officiated fairly. You are the right man for the job. Next all blacks coach is here ladies and gentlemen Miss Ben Smith (He/She/They/IT)
222 Go to comments