Fiji rugby journey
Aca Ratuva heading for a try against Australia. photo Zoomfiji
Long boat rides with great views. photo Zoomfiji
You’ll often hear chroniclers say that every journey begins with a single step. However that doesn’t tell you much about the rest of the journey.
Participating in round 5 of the Pacific Rugby Cup this weekend, Fiji’s rugby players will find out that the first tranquil step to their match venue will be followed by transportation that’s anything but sedate.
It’ll involve:
- a rickety bus ride over pothole ridden roads
- then a stomach churning boat passage over a particularly robust part of the Pacific Ocean
- rounded off by a second bus ride that will prove twice as severe as the first one
All this and none of the players have even left the country as they travel half way across one island to catch a boat to play on the other side of another island.
In fact just getting to Labasa’s Subrail Park, the venue of this weekend’s clash, between the Air Pacific Fiji Warriors and the Air Pacific Fiji Barbarians, will be a real adventure in itself.
One player, who has a unique perspective on it all, having plied his trade in the land of fine wine, is former Agen loose forward Aca Ratuva who now finds himself back home among the kava swipers, lending his talents to the Warriors.
He believes that going from bonjour to bula is a totally new ball game.
“You can’t really compare playing in France to touring in Fiji, because it’s just two different worlds really,” the current Flying Fijians rep said.
“There’s a uniqueness about playing rugby here in the islands and sometimes the hardest part is just getting to the ground.”
“We don’t have high speed trains, tar sealed roads everywhere or airfields in every town or city so we’re reliant on the tides and just praying our bus doesn’t have a mechanical failure in the middle of the jungle!”
Should they make it to their match venue, Ratuva and his Warriors team mates will be hoping to impress national selectors this Saturday as they take on the Air Pacific Fiji Barbarians in the final round of the PRC at 3pm at Subrail Park in Labasa.