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Fijian star to shun lucrative overseas contract offers

Iosefo Masi (Getty)

Olympics rugby sevens gold medalist Iosefo Masi has turned down lucrative offers to take his talents overseas and has insisted he wants to continue to play for Fiji.

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The 23-year-old told Fiji Times he received many overseas offers after the gold medal win in Tokyo but wanted to continue to play for his country and is in the final year Bachelor of Science in Fisheries student at the FNU’s College of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (CAFF).

Masi said: “I plan to further my studies and continue to play for Fiji. Right now I can’t wait to go back home to Taveuni and see my parents. I cannot stop thinking about them as it breaks my heart being away from them. I can’t wait for the borders to be open.”

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Inside Australia’s toughest club rugby competition

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      Inside Australia’s toughest club rugby competition

      Masi, like the rest of the gold medal winning squad has been forced to be away from his family for nearly six months due to the restrictions caused by the pandemic. He attended Holy Cross College in Wairiki, Taveuni before he joined Suva Grammar School in 2016 with his love of rugby taking him finally to Nasinu Secondary School.

      “To further develop my skills in the sport, I moved from Taveuni to Suva, where I attended Suva Grammar School. I had the opportunity to play for the U18 team in the 2016 Deans competition:” he explained.

      “Later I was part of the Tabadamu team before I was selected to represent Fiji at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”

      Masi said he learnt a lot from the experienced players who had played in the HSBC Sevens series.“One thing they taught me was humility, be humble and always listen to instructions given by the management.”

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      The squad are still being impacted by the pandemic travel restrictions with Olympics gold medallist Sireli Maqala  being kept at a quarantine facility in Labasa.

      Health officials picked Maqala from the Waiqele Airport on Saturday when he arrived from Nadi, following his participation at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

      “We have been advised by the doctors that the quarantine is necessary because my son travelled from Nadi to Nausori which is a red zone area,” his father Sisa Ramuadrau said.

      “He is expected to be released later this week but that will depend on the tests conducted.”

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      JW 2 hours ago
      'I feel for the players': Jamie Joseph's reflection on falling short again

      Some great leadership quality from Big Jim, he facilitated for large parts then put the responsibility on himself at the end drive the team forward in the last desperate minutes. He also filled in for Withy extremely well, adding real strength to the maul.


      The Force have been playing very well this year indeed, and their stars did make a couple of key players, the main factor though is definitely what I reported in the previous article “

      Gotta say I’m really enjoying the Highlanders desperation in the last 10 minutes of games, maybe it’s just because theyre having to throw the kitchen sink at it again. Another massive effort to hold the opposition out just like in the Blues game. I’m sure the coach’s will be wanting a little more composure though as the play seems to far more hap hazard (really just the type of footy I like watching) than the picture they bring at the beggining of games.

      Again though they don’t have the refs to thank for anything, being down a man twenty more minutes than they should have been. Most importantly they were without one of they best attackers (not counting Tangitau’s early change) for the final push, with Nareki’s bin.

      Again, I can see where this team is trying to go, I hope they can get their this year as they certainly have the game to be a top four team if they click. They are munch of misfits when you look at it objectively though, they probably have the worst cohesion score of any SRP team. A few more wins, maybe a come from behind upset may be the best theey can hope to acheive this year.

      “. Like Jim I thought the defence stood up strongly for large parts, but they may just have some structural issues, where it’s just not paying off. They had Lawaqa on the wing all day, allowed the Force to make a dozen linebreaks, why? Both there attack and defence look a bit too fancy for me, why? Common Joseph, the youngest team with the least cohesion/most new guys, it look overly complicated.


      I hope it clicks. Manson in particular looked to be trying far too hard when he came on, what’s been said in his ear? Stick to you lane son and don’t make any mistakes, don’t lose the game for your team. Should be a comfortable win next week against Drua if they keep there heads up and come back stronger. Lasaqa might be best to come off the bench, would keep Jim at 12 but I’d like Tele’a to come back to the side, though TUJ hasn’t been bad and style might suit Drua more. Hopefully Renton or someone with some size is at 8 or 6, Lasaqa appears to be more an 8 actually, similar to Sititi and I wouldn’t mind if he was groomed behind him and Sotutu. Lennox I thought could make a good halfback but isn’t ready, I’d hope Arscott, Fakatava, or Pledger could return to the side. Other than Drua theyve got Cheifs twice, though the home game is the last of the round/season so potentially a gimme if the Chiefs repeat previous years tactics. The Crusaders and Moana at home are also very doable. Those four wins could see them crash into the top 6 still.

      6 Go to comments
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