Hope Rugby Manager Ilaitia Bakani

The Hope Rugby side is providing a pathway for young women and girls who wish to showcase their rugby 7s skills but do not have a club to play for.

The Nausori based side has formed a team made up of interested ruggers including 15s players who wish to master the 7s code.

Manager Ilaitia Bakani says they strive to live up to the name of the team as they mold the players to be the best in the local 7s scene.

“Hope Rugby is all about giving hope to girls who did not have a club to play with, giving them game time. So that is what we will continue to do, we won the Mokani 7s and we were runners-up in the Uprising 7s and we’ll go on in other tournaments. We’ll look for girls who are in need of game-time and do not have clubs to play for so we will be there to assist them.”

Bakani adds the Uprising 7s runners-up title is something they will treasure and it will be a motivating factor for the team to do better in the coming tournaments.

The team is trained under the guidance of Rewa rugby trainer Louis Uluibau.