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Barefoot in the park: Fiji girls heading for rugby's heights / Photo: © AFP
Barefoot in the park: Fiji girls heading for rugby's heights
The Lelean Memorial School (LMS) punches above its weight as a rugby school in Fiji where some players train barefoot or share boots.
Its most famous rugby alumni is 7s magician Waisale Serevi, who played pro in England and France, while Tevita Kuridrani went on to win 60 caps for Australia.
Now LMS, a high school in Nausori, about 45 minutes out of Suva City, has turned the spotlight on its girls.
Inspired by Fiji's bronze medal at the Sevens in the Tokyo Olympics and Fijiana Drua's two successive titles in the Super W tournament where they compete against the cream of Australian rugby, the girls are on the march.
The Under-18 and Under-16 teams are in their second year of competing in the weekly Raluve competition for secondary schools.
There won't be any silverware this year but with their maths teacher, Seini Miller, who is currently completing her World Rugby Level 2 coaching accreditation, at the helm there are high hopes for the years ahead.
Just as Miller balances algebra and coaching, these girls are also required to juggle study and rugby.
Most of them play for their respective provincial teams in the national women's competition as well as the school teams.
Three of them have already checked in with the extended national squad. With the growth of the women's game around the world, playing the game professionally is now a serious career option.
It's not glamorous - most train barefoot or share a pair of boots while training on the muddy LMS grounds - but the passion for the game is high. Sometimes fixtures require a four-hour round-trip in the school bus.
All of the girls will be closely watching Fiji's progress at the Rugby World Cup, keeping a special cheer for LMS old boy Eroni Mawi, who helped Saracens to the English Premiership this year.
With Wales and Australia both struggling to find any form in the build-up to the tournament, Fiji have a real chance of matching their achievement of 1987 and 2007 when they reached the quarter-finals.
They kick off against the Welsh in Bordeaux on September 10 before taking on the Wallabies, Georgia and Portugal.
++ Ahead of the Rugby World Cup in France, Agence France-Presse asked 20 aspiring photographers from each country qualified for the competition to show one aspect of the rugby union culture in their homeland, with the help of Canon cameras who are sponsoring the tournament. From Namibia to Fiji via Georgia and Scotland this photo essay gives us a glimpse of the core values of rugby on five continents.
A. Madsen--BTZ
