Oceania cup qualifiers

Flying into New Caledonia you start seeing all the traces of another typical Island nation, out from the plane window you see little coral atoll's and the blue colour's that bring so many smiles to tourists and locals heading home. Once on the tarmac this all changes as you are greeted with a man in customs with a funny mustache and he says Bonjour, from then on in you are well and truly plonked in the France of the Pacific. Noumea is New Caledonia's capital and its flavour is bliss, coastal bliss, fancy shops bliss and amazing people and cars bliss. Every way you look it is coastal living at it's best, the city is hugged with turquoise water and strategically placed are it's cafes & beaches for enjoying. Made for fun the city is surrounded by a glorious sea wall, loads of people are on & around the wall for a bit of running, walking, kite surfers, sun soakers and the good old athletes that chose to watch it all rather than do it.

Now why we are really here in Noumea is for the western division of the Oceania qualifiers. Phase 1 of supremacy in Oceania is at stake here and the winner of this competition gets to host the final for Oceania at the end of the month. Vanuatu, Solomon's, and the home side New Caledonia are all here to fight it out. Today the local team went through their final preparations, they have been together for a month getting fizzed for this and the team is keen to get on the field and make a statement. In the run about today they do boast some surprising members in the team, a 1st five built like Jonah Lomu and a lock that reaches a staggering 2.15 meters. The opponents will find it hard to match these 2 men and the other 13 in the team will be doing their best to make life just as difficult on the footy field come kick-off.