Frank Solomon
Dave Solomon
Bryan Williams
Joe Stanley
Bernie Fraser
Michael Jones
Stephen Bachop
Graeme Bachop
Jonah Lomu
Vaaiga Tuigamala
John Schuster
Tana Umaga
Josh Kronfeld
Frank Bunce
Walter Little
Arthur Jennings
Alama Ieremia
Ofisa Tonuu
Pita Alatini
Jerry Collins
Doug Howlett
Jerome Kaino
Casey Laulala
Chris Masoe
Aaron Mauger
Keven Mealamu
Mils Muliaina
Maa Nonu
Joe Rokocoko
Sitiveni Sivivatu
Rodney Sooialo
Neemia Tialata
Isaia Toeava
Mose Tuialii
Sam Tuitopu
Andrew Blowers
Eroni Clarke
Olo Brown
Richard Turner
Pat Lam
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The Pacific and the People

IRB World Series Sevens Tournament in San Diego:

The fourth annual USA Sevens, the largest international rugby tournament in North America, is the fourth of eight stops in the International Rugby Board’s Sevens Schedule and was played Feb. 10-11, at Petco Park in San Diego, USA.

Previous winners: 2006: England, 2005: New Zealand, 2004: Argentina

Fiji wins over Samoa in San Diego Sevens Final 11 Feb 2007

Fiji won over Samoa in the final of the Steinlarger US Sevens in San Diego.

The two Pacific Teams also met in the Wellington finals in which Samoa won.

Fiji scored through William Ryder (2),Mosese Volavola, Nasoni Roko,Etonia Raba,Lepani Nabuliwaqa and Semisi Naevo to be the victors 38-24.

Samoa scored from Uale Mai, Timoteo Iosua and Jerry Meafou.

The Steinlarger USA Sevens were held in San Diego Sat 10 and Sun 11 Feb.

The city of San Diego had never experienced an event such as this before. They were rather insecure with the extremely vocal and boistrous fans who paid between $35.00 and $80.00 a ticket, to support their national teams playing in the very first IRB Sevens Rugby Tournament held in San Diego, California. Not knowing whether to call for more security or just let it escalate, the officials and some of the fans were noticeably nervous as the tournament drew closer to its climax and the two most vocal groups began to collect into two very emotional camps along the front row of the stadium to root for their teams playing in the Cup final. The finalists were Samoa and Fiji, neighboring island nations from the South Pacific who discarded all their challengers without much regard for their place in the global landscape.

Samoa and Fiji advanced pretty much unimpeded through their individual pools during the first day scoring impressive wins over such powerhouses as South Africa, Australia, Argentina, England, and Scotland. The result was at the end of the first day New Zealand was the only other undefeated team. However, the consensus of the experts and the fans gathered in the first class facilities offered by Petco park, a new sports complex used primarily by the San Diego Padres (their professional baseball team), was that Samoa and Fiji were by far the class of the tournament.

The second day began with great anticipation for the Fijians and Samoan teams. They were like two giants steamrollers flattening the opposition without much challenge. It was a sight to behold when Fiji discarded New Zealand in their semi-final. They were cool as the other side of the pillow as their team imposed it's will on the wily Kiwis. The Samoans dominated France in it's semifinal match and the Final was set. SAMOA vs FIJI much to the delight of the fans most of whom were from these two communities.

They had come to San Diego from as far away as San Fransisco and Los Angeles. There were even a few hardy fans from Samoa who had arrived that same week from Apia, namely Rita Keil, her sister Eivo and their nephew Tamafaiga Keil. Other Samoans who were present included San Diego's own Salani Faaivae, Susana Solomon, Kalala Pio Foxworthy, Albert Ainuu and many more. It was quite a festive atmosphere yet there was no animosity between the competing factions. It was quite loud and animated yet it was very controlled and the civility of the fans was admired by tournament and city officials alike.

As the game began between Samoa and Fiji it was evident that the Fijians had come to avenge their last loss to Samoa in the Sevens Competition held in Wellington, New Zealand. They inserted their "big boys" two of whom seemed to dwarf the Samoan players. The Fijians had a solid game plan and they executed it to their advantage as the Samoan team was unable to stop the crushing surges by these very hard hitting Fijian players. It became apparent even to the most fervant of Samoa's fans that they were in for a long battle as Fiji went ahead early on. Samoa equaled the score quickly but then Fiji began to it grind out using their larger forwards to break down the Samoan defense. Eventually the Fijians scored twice more before the half.
the second half was quiite entertaining as Samoa mounted a comeback which fell just short but was valient nonetheless and was admired by all. The Fijians were able to manipulate their advantage in the lineouts and in the scrums to push back the Samoan defenders until they were able to score with drives mounted fom just next to the score line. In the end the Samoans were not victorious this time, the Fijian faithful, who numbered 3 to one more than Samoans present that day, were rewarded with a decisive victory. I twas a most enjoyable event and we look forward to hosting it again next year.