Fiji 7s dominate Pacific sports headlines for the weekend

Photo: World Rugby Victories in Singapore by the Fiji men's sevens rugby team were the highlights on Saturday, in another busy weekend for Pacific sports teams. The Fijians finished day one of the Singapore Sevens, the third tournament of the 2025/2026 HSBC SVNS Series, with three wins, topping their pool and securing their berth in the semifinals on Sunday evening. In Apia, Samoa, Cook Islands club Tupapa Maraerenga FC proved far too strong for Nukuhetulu FC of Tonga in their OFC Men's Champions League Qualifying match, winning the clash 3-0. With that result Tupapa Maraerenga head into the second round of the qualifiers in the new week as favourites to win the series. While, across in Port Moresby, Auckland City continued from where they left off in the first round of the new OFC Pro League in Auckland a weekend ago, claiming their fourth win so far with a 2-0 win over local side PNG Hekari FC. The win means Auckland City stay clear at the top of the points table, with 12 points. Fiji 7s set up meeting with All Blacks 7s In Sigapore, the Fiji men's sevens team are the defending champions. Playmaker Terio Velawa told the media after their third pool match win over South Africa that defending the title is something they are focused on, but they were also conscious the competition is tougher than before. The Fijians defeated Great Britain 22-19 in a close win in their opening pool game on Saturday afternoon. Speedster Viwa Naduvalo claimed two tries in that half as Fiji led 12-7 at halftime. Naduvalo claimed his hat-trick in the second half before Nacani Boginisoko , who was making his debut, claimed his first try of the series. A better performance in their second pool match saw the side defeated Spain 28-7. Early tries from Iowane Teba and George Bose saw the champs lead 14-7 at halftime, after Spain had claimed one of their own. Veilawa and Bognisoko also added to the tallies in the second half to seal the win. The third match of the day was tougher than the two previous pool games, with the game going into extra time, after the two sides were tied 19-all at fulltime. With the new format, teams who end up in a draw have to play sudden death extra spells to decide a winner, where the team that scores the first points wins the match. Boginisoko claimed his third try in Singapore when he went through the tiring South Affrican defence to claim the winner. South Africa had led 14-7 at halftime and 19-14 towards the end of the game, before Fiji levelled terms to force the game into extra time. Fiji's opponents New Zealand lost their opening pool match 19-12 to France, but they came back strong to beat Argentina 26-20 in their second game and claim a 29-10 victory over Australia to secure their semifinal spot. Fiji meets New Zealand at 7.52pm, New Zealand time, tonight in the first men's semifinal. The second semifinal will feature South Africa against France, at 8.14pm. In the women's competition, the Fijiana women's team lost two earlier pool matches to Australia and United States of America before beating Japan 34-12 in their final pool game. They lost 35-7 to Australia in their opening pool game and were pipped 17-12 by USA in their second game. Semifinals in the women's competition will see Australia take on Canada while New Zealand will meet USA. Cook Islands club lead qualifier Meanwhile, in Apia, the 3-0 win by Tupapa Maraerenga FC, who also claimed the qualifier series last year, came after the side had taken to the game early and applied the pressure from the opening whistle. Nukuhetulu, the Tongan local champs, were making their debut at the qualifier and could not hold their own against the Cook Islanders. Oceania Football Confederation media said Tupapa wasted little time stamping their authority on the match, opening the scoring inside the first ten minutes through Daniel Bunch. Bunch doubled his record when he struck his team's second goal in the 24th minute. Ngametua Tukana added the team's third goal before halftime after he pounced on a ball cleared off the line by Nukuhetulu goalkeeper Ge'ofa'aki Aho. Tukana pounced on the rebound, edging the ball over the line to extend the lead to three. Nukuhetulu showed moments of promise in the second half and tighten their defence, keeping the scoreline at 3-0 until the end of the game. In the earlier game, Samoa's Viavase-Tai FC and American Samoa's Pago Youth FC fought to a 1-1 draw. Matches will continue on Tuesday, Pago Youth FC taking on vs Nukuhetulu FC and Tupapa Maraerenga FC batting Vaivase-Tai FC in the second round. Auckland's supremacy on show again Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.nz Auckland City continue to be the pace-setter in the new OFC Pro League, with the second round kicking off in Port Moresby on Saturday. Two stoppage time goals, one each by Bailey Ferguson in the 92nd minute, and Emiliano Tade, eight minutes later, gave the side the 2-0 victory. That result broke the hearts of local fans...

Fiji 7s dominate Pacific sports headlines for the weekend

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