The battle lines have been drawn for the final day of the 27th Vailima Marist Sevens and it’s only a matter of time now before the best of the best is crowned.
Eight of 32 teams yesterday battled their way into Cup quarterfinal contention and today, all eyes are on who will survive the battle of overcoming the conditions and their opponents.
Defending champions, Vailele, demolished Fa’atoia, 61-0, before struggling past a determined Sa’asaai outfit, 15-7, to book a quarterfinal berth against Apia Maroons.
The Maroons will need to be at their best. Yesterday, they overcame Salelologa, 26-5, before putting away Marist Angels, 15-5, to qualify.
The second cup quarterfinal will see Moata’a and Vaiala in the battle of Vaimauga East.
<script async src="http://www.samoaobserver.ws///pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<!-- ads-articles(24.03.14) -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-9419815128221199"
data-ad-slot="2395638412"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>
{/googleAds}
Moata’a easily dealt with Vaivase, 43-0 and had an easy road claiming a win by default over Red Rock Fiji who have not shown up.
Vaiala on the other hand ended day two with two impressive wins over Saoluafata, 31-0, and New Zealand Marist, 24-0. The team features plenty of talent including star players, Alatasi Tupou and Patrick Fa’apale.
Former Manu Samoa Sevens captain, Uale Ma’i, showed he still has plenty of class on the field leading his Wainuiomata team to the quarterfinals.
The Wellingtonians did enough to get past Taga, 15-5, before cementing their spot with a one point win over Vaimoso, 15-14. Wainuiomata will play the home crowd favourites, Vailima Marist St. Joseph’s who annihilated Lefaga, 54-0, before disposing Leone Whites, 47-0. After two days, they look to be the team to beat today.
The last quarterfinal will be between Auckland Marist Samoa and SCOPA.
SCOPA clawed their way to the top by overcoming Salelavalu, 17-12 and Tepatasi, 24-5 while Auckland Marist defeated Apia Lua 17-7 and Lauli’i, 17-14.
Looking ahead to today, Auckland Marist’s Assistant Manager, Tuala Leota, said while they were pleased with their results yesterday, today is what really counts.
He admitted that the weather was a factor yesterday but that is not going to be an excuse when push comes to shove today.
“The field is too slippery because of the bad weather but we’ll see what tomorrow will bring,” he said.
“We need to hold on to our ball, that’s just one of things we need to work on.”
Tuala said they came to win and that path means they need to get past SCOPA first.
“We need to play smart rugby,” he said. “That’s the only way we will win.”
Wainuiomata Manager, Nick Domonkos, couldn't agree more.
With a perfect record so far, he said they will need to start today extremely focussed.
“The heat is causing us some problems but my team is adapting very well,” he said. “We’re pretty keen to get on with the job tomorrow and so we’ll go and rest and come back ready.”
Tournament Director, Seumanu Douglas Ngau Chun, told the Weekend Observer that the second day of the tournament was excellent.
He also confirmed that the Fiji, Red Rock, has not turned up.
“We’re very disappointed that one of the top teams couldn’t make it,” he said. “It’s out of our hands and we hope to secure them for next year.” The play offs today kick off at 9am with the Spoon Quarterfinals.
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-2469982834957525"
data-ad-slot="1033882026"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>{/googleAds}