When Daniele Yaya was chosen to be part of the Fiji 7s team in Dubai, his family was faced with a dilemma.

The 23-year-old had never travelled out of the country hence he didn’t have a passport.

With little time on their hand, the family rushed to make sure their son had a passport done when he joined the national 7s extended squad.

Mother Anaseini Mareta says their financial status meant it was not possible to get one done straight away and they sought the assistance of Frank Lomani and Iowane Ratuciri’s parents.

“We went and asked the couple to help us with Dan’s passport cost, they never even thought twice about it and told us we have to work together and get everything done for the three boys’.We managed to uproot one yaqona plant which we sold to complete the cost of a new passport.”

Originally from Nukubalavu, Savusavu, Yaya is an only child.

He attended Savusavu Public School where he started playing rugby.

He later joined St Bedes College where he was a member of the school rugby team.

[Source:Fiji Rugby]

Yaya also played for Dominion Brothers before joining the local champion side Raiwasa Taveuni.

Fiji is pooled with Australia, Canada, and France at the Dubai 7s.

They’ll face France at 7:22pm on Friday, before its next match against Canada at 10:52pm and then Australia at 3:33am on Saturday.

You can watch all the action live on FBC TV.