Skipper Provincial Cup Match Report: Suva V Nadroga

The Nadroga rugby team created the upset beating the Skipper Provincial Cup champions Suva, 25-17, in the first round at the ANZ Stadium.

Nadroga had the mixture of young and senior players and they came through in the last five minutes of play to scoop the win over the capital side.

Nadroga team captain Manueli Ratuniyarawa said they challenged themselves after failing to win the title last year.

“I acknowledge the Lord Almighty for his blessings and strength, helping us achieve the win,” said Ratuniyarawa.

“We challenged ourselves this season to rise from our downfall last year and I thank the boys for working as a team to accomplish our goal in the first round.

“We still have many areas to work on and we will return and comeback stronger next week.

Suva team captain James Brown challenged his boys to keep their heads up and move forward.

“For us this is a learning curve, its either we win or we learn,” said Brown.

Nadroga scored a bonus point with four tries, one conversion and a penalty while Suva managed two tries, two conversions and a penalty.

The Stallions led 15-10 in the halftime break, then Suva extended their lead to 17-10 in the second half before Nadroga’s open side wing Panapasa Qeruqeru scored two tries in the last five minutes of play to steal the win.

Nadroga will face Namosi next weekend while Suva takes on Rewa in the second round.

Meanwhile the Under 19 defending champions Nadroga were thrashed by the capital side 30-3 in the first round.

Suva led Nadroga 5-3 at the halftime break.

The Suva development team edged Nadroga 24-19 starting their campaign on a high note.