Bula Bill
Satala leaves 7s field injured
Bula Bill
By Viks August 5 2002
.................or at least that’s what the commentator in the stadium said! Fortunately for Quins fans, the announcement was incorrect! Bill played the whole of the final, winning a silver medal with the Fiji team.
Bula Bill
.................or at least that’s what the commentator in the stadium said! Fortunately for Quins fans, the announcement was incorrect! Bill played the whole of the final, winning a silver medal with the Fiji team.
Fiji played England on the Saturday night for a chance to play for medals. The Fijians came out on top in the confrontation with four Quins on the field. This left England in the Plate competition and needing to beat some strong opposition in the form of Canada and Australia to gain some silverware.
The final day of the tournament was kicked off with the Bowl semi-final between Scotland and the Cook Islands. This was won, 26-7, by Scotland who later faced Tonga after they had beaten a committed, speedy Kenyan team 41-10.
Next came the semi-finals of the plate with Wales v Australia and then England v Canada. The Australians failed to make their mark early in the game but found their form towards the end of the first half, leaving the score 7-0 at the break. Wales hit back strongly with some great teamwork resulting in a try in the corner. Having failed to convert, Wales were forced to bow out when the final whistle blew.
The stadium had been slowly filing up and was at capacity before England kicked off against Canada. The Canadians almost scored just a minute into the game but some effective rucking by Nick Duncombe denied them. Infact his clearing-out was so committed that the Canadian stayed down for a few minutes! The ensuing play from inside England’s 22 saw Josh Lewsey sprinting clear for a try, converted by Henry Paul. Phil Greening’s late tackle left England with only 6 men on the pitch for two minutes. Despite this obvious handicap, Pat Sanderson made a semi-break, offloading to Appleford for a second try. Back up to 7 men, Duncombe showed some great running skills to put Sanderson over in the corner. Just into the second half, Greening left the field with a blood injury, being replaced by former junior sprint champion Paul Sampson. From a reset scrum Henry Paul offloaded to Appleford and then provided the link to Sampson who weaved at pace past the opposition to score in the corner. Henry Paul converted & this was soon followed by a brilliantly worked try for Greening in the opposite corner, which Gollings was unlucky not to convert when his attempt bounced off the upright. Canada would have ruined England’s clean sheet if it hadn’t been for a crunching tackle by Sanderson in the last minute. The final play of the game involved some accomplished passing out of the tackle by Duncombe & Gollings to put Sampson clear for his second try, leaving the score 29-0 to England.
Next came the first semi-final in the medal competition between New Zealand and Samoa. New Zealand took the game by the scruff of the neck from the start, ensuring that the Kiwis had little to fear with a half-time score of 22-0. Samoa hit back in the second half with two tries, but this did little to dent New Zealand confidence and the final score read 31-12.
Next to take to the field were Fiji & South Africa with the exciting prospect of newly-signed Harlequin Bill Satala teaming up with Sevens legend Waisale Serevi. Satala showed some great skills from the outset, including scrummaging and jumping in the line-out – which will undoubtedly be useful when he plays for Quins at centre! Despite Fiji’s inventive efforts, South Africa were first on the score sheet and at half-time the Fijians trailed 7-0. Just over two minutes into the second half, Fiji scored thanks to an interception by Satala. A clever grubber kick & scoop by Serevi put the Fijians 12-7 in front. In a very tense final minute, the uncontainable Serevi stole the ball at a breakdown to take the score to 17-7, putting the Fiji team through to the final.
In the Bowl final, the Tongans were first over the line with a try inside the first minute, although Scotland were not far behind them, scoring in the second minute. Some skillful kicking from the very Scottish sounding Marcus Di Rollo left the score 19-12 in Scotland’s favour at half time. A disallowed Tongan try kicked off the second half when Simon Taylor tackled the Tongan to take his foot over the line before the ball had been grounded. The Tongans demonstrated some solid support play, but unfortunately were not as strong as the Scots, who won the Bowl 40-26.
Three Quins were on the pitch for the Plate final, with England first off the mark when Gollings dived over in the corner. He was on the score sheet again just a minute later with a conversion after a try by Greening, thanks to some strong running from Paul. Saracen’s Tony Roques was next to score before the Australian forwards took exception to Duncombe's gloves & white boots, giving him a good rucking at a breakdown. This worked in England’s favour as the pass to Lewsey from Paul’s pick-up saw the host nation score whilst Duncombe was still being shoed by three Aussies who maybe should have been defending instead! However, this woke the Australians up and they scored a penalty to take the score to 22-7 at the break. Three minutes into the second half an awesome dump-tackle by Greening allowed Lewsey to collect the spilled ball & offload to Duncombe who scored under the posts. Duncombe’s next starring role was jumping in the line-out. The first attempt didn’t quite go to plan as the forwards forgot to catch him, however, the second was much better with Appleford then making many yards but failing to collect points. Mothercare would have been proud of the amazing dummy which Sanderson used to make a half-break. Paul picked up & went over the line for the final try of the game, ensuring a resounding defeat for the Australians (36-12) and another piece of silverware for the Twickenham trophy cabinet.
Although a fairly close game, the playoff for the Bronze medal between South Africa and Samoa was a little dull with a glut of handling errors due to a downpour leading to knock-ons and side-slips instead of side-steps. South Africa lead 12-7 at the break whilst the crowd joined in a chorus of “Singing in the Rain”. During the turn-around, referee Steve Lander danced like a court-jester, a term which fortunately could not be applied to his control of the game as he restrained tempers on the pitch as the hard-hitting teams scrapped out the last ten minutes, With the result 19-12 to South Africa, it was the Wellington Sevens- winning side who took the Bronze medal.
With the sun beginning to appear, spirits were lifted along with the tempo of the rugby for the final game between Fiji and New Zealand. It was the Kiwis who made the first break but their 7 point advantage was quickly reduced to a margin of just two separating the sides. Some Satala magic put Fiji infront and meant that all four of the Harlequins playing in Manchester had bagged some points. The sidestep to beat the defence was certainly in keeping with the Fijian style of play and will be a treat to see at the Stoop in the forthcoming season. New Zealand sneaked over the line before the hooter went to put them two points ahead at half time.
Just into the second half came the announcement which Mark Evans & Mike Scott would have been dreading. A Fijian player went down after a late tackle and had to be helped off the pitch. The Quins fans breathed a sigh of relief that the 7s curse had not struck their new signing, despite the incorrect announcement that Satala had just left the field injured. The Fijians then dished out a few late tackles in retaliation and the red card which followed seemed a little harsh given that the Kiwis had merely received a caution for the same offence two minutes earlier. With only six men Fiji had to take a few risks and the havoc created by Serevi in centrefield earned them a penalty against New Zealand, giving them a lead of one point from the kick. The men in black made some tactical substitutions and used the extra man to go ahead 21-15 with five minutes of injury time left to play. Serevi made a remarkable break with Satala positioned perfectly out wide but the pass was unfortunatley too inaccurate. This error, combined with a yellow card for another late tackle squandered Fiji’s chances of taking the Gold medal as they lost to an irrepressible New Zealand side.
Overall this was a fantastic spectacle of rugby for all fans, but equally importantly brought the game to a new audience. With all four of the Harlequin players putting in good performances, this bodes well for the Middlesex 7s in two weeks time. Bill Satala appeared relaxed as he came over to thank a group of fans after the Fiji lap of honour. He stated that he was “very much looking forwards to playing for Quins” and was “feeling happy” about playing in the English premiership. When questioned later, Satala said that he had enjoyed his first meeting with Quins fans, describing them as “very nice” and also “funny” – a surprising comment given that he hasn’t seen a pair of Diamond Geezer trousers yet!
The final day of the tournament was kicked off with the Bowl semi-final between Scotland and the Cook Islands. This was won, 26-7, by Scotland who later faced Tonga after they had beaten a committed, speedy Kenyan team 41-10.
Next came the semi-finals of the plate with Wales v Australia and then England v Canada. The Australians failed to make their mark early in the game but found their form towards the end of the first half, leaving the score 7-0 at the break. Wales hit back strongly with some great teamwork resulting in a try in the corner. Having failed to convert, Wales were forced to bow out when the final whistle blew.
The stadium had been slowly filing up and was at capacity before England kicked off against Canada. The Canadians almost scored just a minute into the game but some effective rucking by Nick Duncombe denied them. Infact his clearing-out was so committed that the Canadian stayed down for a few minutes! The ensuing play from inside England’s 22 saw Josh Lewsey sprinting clear for a try, converted by Henry Paul. Phil Greening’s late tackle left England with only 6 men on the pitch for two minutes. Despite this obvious handicap, Pat Sanderson made a semi-break, offloading to Appleford for a second try. Back up to 7 men, Duncombe showed some great running skills to put Sanderson over in the corner. Just into the second half, Greening left the field with a blood injury, being replaced by former junior sprint champion Paul Sampson. From a reset scrum Henry Paul offloaded to Appleford and then provided the link to Sampson who weaved at pace past the opposition to score in the corner. Henry Paul converted & this was soon followed by a brilliantly worked try for Greening in the opposite corner, which Gollings was unlucky not to convert when his attempt bounced off the upright. Canada would have ruined England’s clean sheet if it hadn’t been for a crunching tackle by Sanderson in the last minute. The final play of the game involved some accomplished passing out of the tackle by Duncombe & Gollings to put Sampson clear for his second try, leaving the score 29-0 to England.
Next came the first semi-final in the medal competition between New Zealand and Samoa. New Zealand took the game by the scruff of the neck from the start, ensuring that the Kiwis had little to fear with a half-time score of 22-0. Samoa hit back in the second half with two tries, but this did little to dent New Zealand confidence and the final score read 31-12.
Next to take to the field were Fiji & South Africa with the exciting prospect of newly-signed Harlequin Bill Satala teaming up with Sevens legend Waisale Serevi. Satala showed some great skills from the outset, including scrummaging and jumping in the line-out – which will undoubtedly be useful when he plays for Quins at centre! Despite Fiji’s inventive efforts, South Africa were first on the score sheet and at half-time the Fijians trailed 7-0. Just over two minutes into the second half, Fiji scored thanks to an interception by Satala. A clever grubber kick & scoop by Serevi put the Fijians 12-7 in front. In a very tense final minute, the uncontainable Serevi stole the ball at a breakdown to take the score to 17-7, putting the Fiji team through to the final.
In the Bowl final, the Tongans were first over the line with a try inside the first minute, although Scotland were not far behind them, scoring in the second minute. Some skillful kicking from the very Scottish sounding Marcus Di Rollo left the score 19-12 in Scotland’s favour at half time. A disallowed Tongan try kicked off the second half when Simon Taylor tackled the Tongan to take his foot over the line before the ball had been grounded. The Tongans demonstrated some solid support play, but unfortunately were not as strong as the Scots, who won the Bowl 40-26.
Three Quins were on the pitch for the Plate final, with England first off the mark when Gollings dived over in the corner. He was on the score sheet again just a minute later with a conversion after a try by Greening, thanks to some strong running from Paul. Saracen’s Tony Roques was next to score before the Australian forwards took exception to Duncombe's gloves & white boots, giving him a good rucking at a breakdown. This worked in England’s favour as the pass to Lewsey from Paul’s pick-up saw the host nation score whilst Duncombe was still being shoed by three Aussies who maybe should have been defending instead! However, this woke the Australians up and they scored a penalty to take the score to 22-7 at the break. Three minutes into the second half an awesome dump-tackle by Greening allowed Lewsey to collect the spilled ball & offload to Duncombe who scored under the posts. Duncombe’s next starring role was jumping in the line-out. The first attempt didn’t quite go to plan as the forwards forgot to catch him, however, the second was much better with Appleford then making many yards but failing to collect points. Mothercare would have been proud of the amazing dummy which Sanderson used to make a half-break. Paul picked up & went over the line for the final try of the game, ensuring a resounding defeat for the Australians (36-12) and another piece of silverware for the Twickenham trophy cabinet.
Although a fairly close game, the playoff for the Bronze medal between South Africa and Samoa was a little dull with a glut of handling errors due to a downpour leading to knock-ons and side-slips instead of side-steps. South Africa lead 12-7 at the break whilst the crowd joined in a chorus of “Singing in the Rain”. During the turn-around, referee Steve Lander danced like a court-jester, a term which fortunately could not be applied to his control of the game as he restrained tempers on the pitch as the hard-hitting teams scrapped out the last ten minutes, With the result 19-12 to South Africa, it was the Wellington Sevens- winning side who took the Bronze medal.
With the sun beginning to appear, spirits were lifted along with the tempo of the rugby for the final game between Fiji and New Zealand. It was the Kiwis who made the first break but their 7 point advantage was quickly reduced to a margin of just two separating the sides. Some Satala magic put Fiji infront and meant that all four of the Harlequins playing in Manchester had bagged some points. The sidestep to beat the defence was certainly in keeping with the Fijian style of play and will be a treat to see at the Stoop in the forthcoming season. New Zealand sneaked over the line before the hooter went to put them two points ahead at half time.
Just into the second half came the announcement which Mark Evans & Mike Scott would have been dreading. A Fijian player went down after a late tackle and had to be helped off the pitch. The Quins fans breathed a sigh of relief that the 7s curse had not struck their new signing, despite the incorrect announcement that Satala had just left the field injured. The Fijians then dished out a few late tackles in retaliation and the red card which followed seemed a little harsh given that the Kiwis had merely received a caution for the same offence two minutes earlier. With only six men Fiji had to take a few risks and the havoc created by Serevi in centrefield earned them a penalty against New Zealand, giving them a lead of one point from the kick. The men in black made some tactical substitutions and used the extra man to go ahead 21-15 with five minutes of injury time left to play. Serevi made a remarkable break with Satala positioned perfectly out wide but the pass was unfortunatley too inaccurate. This error, combined with a yellow card for another late tackle squandered Fiji’s chances of taking the Gold medal as they lost to an irrepressible New Zealand side.
Overall this was a fantastic spectacle of rugby for all fans, but equally importantly brought the game to a new audience. With all four of the Harlequin players putting in good performances, this bodes well for the Middlesex 7s in two weeks time. Bill Satala appeared relaxed as he came over to thank a group of fans after the Fiji lap of honour. He stated that he was “very much looking forwards to playing for Quins” and was “feeling happy” about playing in the English premiership. When questioned later, Satala said that he had enjoyed his first meeting with Quins fans, describing them as “very nice” and also “funny” – a surprising comment given that he hasn’t seen a pair of Diamond Geezer trousers yet!
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