Fiji

They played out a thrilling 30-30 draw in round two in Sacramento, Samoa denying Fiji victory with a last gasp penalty by Patrick Fa’apale, and both reached the final with unbeaten records in the six-team competition.

Injuries have robbed coach Stephen Betham of hooker Motu Matuu (delayed concussion), scrum-half Pele Cowley (shoulder) and centre Paul Perez (rib), the latter having scored a brace of tries in the draw with Samoa.

The Brumbies player, who is clear to return from suspension for the Wallabies against the All Blacks in Sydney on 9 August, is allowed to represent Australia at the Rio Olympics in August under the new contract, should they qualify.

Speight has a background playing sevens in his native Fiji and is looking forward to playing the abbreviated form of the game again.

This is to prepare for the 2017 Mini Pacific Games in Vanuatu and the 2019 Pacific Games in Tonga.

“At the end of the day, if you want your team to perform then finance is needed,” Rodan said.

“We came back satisfied with what we achieved by winning 33 gold medals and moving from sixth to fourth spot in the medal tally.

“We were very ambitious and that is what all is about to approach a game. Realistically, we had a budget about $2.5 million to prepare our teams compared to 44million (Kina) (FJ$32m) and all their athletes were training overseas.

PNG took a 1-0 lead after the 8th minute of play when Patrick Aisa powered a kick into the nets.

PNG held on to the lead going into half time.

Fiji came out stronger in the second half and dominated possession early on in the game.

This resulted in the equalizer in the 53rd minute through Tony Tuivuna.

The game looked to be going towards a draw with three minutes extra time given.

Following an impressive showing from their karetekas yesterday, they were able to keep the momentum going with a commanding display that cements their fourth place spot on the overall medals table.

Joji Veremalua claimed the men’s under 75 kilograms individual kumite honours with victory over Honoiti Lien of Tahiti, while Tumu Lango continued Vanuatu’s recent medal rush with bronze.

New Caledonia’s Iwe Rene Hmana was the other athlete who clinched a podium finish, taking bronze. 

That was the tale of the tape at the new Sir Hubert Murray stadium tonight as tears were shed on one side of the field and singing and dancing broke at the other side. The win tonight also won Fiji gold at the Pacific Games.

In normal time, Vanuatu looked the side to score first having a mountain of opportunities in both the first and second half.

Vanuatu’s Bill Nicholls and captain Brian Kaltack came nail bitingly close to scoring but had no luck finding the back of the net as their shots sailed wide or above the bar.

Bainimarama was responding to a question in Parliament by Opposition Leader Ro Teimumu Kepa who asked whether the Fijian Government would consider a referendum given the overwhelming negative reaction to the plans to change the Fiji flag.

“Thank you Madam Speaker, the simple answer is no!” said Bainimarama.

Delana who is currently in Papua New Guinea for the Pacific Games was asked of Fiji's intention to bid for the 2023 games, 20-years after the last one held in Suva.

Delana said there was no decision on the matter yet.

“The Pacific Games Council committee has not said anything on that yet,” he said.

“We are ready to host. The next Pacific Games is Tonga, after that the PGC will decide on 2023.”

Delana said there was a lot to learn from the host nation as they had proven everybody wrong by having world-class facilities done in time for the games.

According to the national federation, they do not want their athletes to worry about raising money but concentrate on performance only.

Each athlete was levied $1650 and sports such as touch rugby did not make the cut while volleyball was rescued in the last minute.

Athletics Fiji development officer Joseph Rodan Junior explained was hey did it.

“In the era or amateurism that most minor sports fall under, the biggest challenge for any federation is financial support.

In his opening address, Mele emphasized the important linkage between agriculture and tourism.

“The two productive sectors agriculture and tourism seem to offer the best opportunities for inclusive economic growth in the region and therefore the promotion of the linkages between the two can contribute to creating improved economic opportunities, build resilience in rural communities and enhance sustainable development in both sectors”, Renato Mele said.