Fiji celebrate team’s passage into last eight
SUVA: The troubled Pacific nation of Fiji erupted in national celebration yesterday with fireworks fizzing and car horns blaring after their rugby team scored a massive upset over Wales in the World Cup.
Cup fever has gripped the rugby-mad nation, where many people stayed up all night to watch the match at 3:00am Fiji time yesterday.
When it ended in a thrilling 38-34 victory for the South Pacific country, where the military grabbed power in a coup last December, joyous fans set off fireworks and blasted car horns around the capital Suva.
“Before the game, people in the villages were flying flags outside their homes saying 'Go, Fiji Go', cars and taxis sported the national flag,” Sports Minister Lekh Ram Vayeshnoi told AFP.
“Everyone was getting into the spirit of it.”
Captain Mosese Rauluni said it was one of the country's greatest wins and its importance to his country could not be understated.
“One of the villages actually climbed a mountain with a generator and TV and watched it (the match) at the top of the mountain because they couldn't pick up the frequency in the village,” he said from Nantes.
“That's the sort of thing we're playing for. It makes your voice go away and brings a tear to your eye.”
The last time Fiji reached the final eight was at the inaugural World Cup in 1987 in New Zealand, and they now face the might of South Africa next Sunday in Marseille. – AFP
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