French Ambassador Hosts Reception for Fiji Airways Men’s & Women’s 7s
The Fiji Airways Men’s and Women’s 7s teams were hosted to a reception by the French Ambassador to Fiji, His Excellency Mr Sujiro Seam today.
Ambassador Seam thanked the players for their commitment and their consistency throughout the HSBC World 7s Series and added that it was a pleasure to get up in the early hours of the morning to watch them play.
“I want to thank you guys and congratulate you because throughout the season you displayed an incredible performance and you gave us a tremendous show. I woke up every night to watch the games so I remembered you played at 2am in the morning and then at 5am in the morning and for us it was always a pleasure to wake up and watch this wonderful Fijian rugby display on the screen.”
He added that meeting the players face to face was intimidating as he compared their sizes in real life to that on the television screen and that whenever the team won it was not only a win for Fiji but also a win for France.
“It’s a little bit intimidating to meet with you in real life because in real life you look bigger then you do on the television screen.”
“I also want to say that whenever Fiji rugby wins it’s a little bit of a success for France as well because in the French championship we have 300 rugby players from Fiji including 25 in the Top 14 competition which is the best of the 14 teams in the French Rugby Union competition.”
He also encouraged the players that by not winning the series, this was not the end of the road for them as they still had the Rugby World Cup 7s in San Francisco and the Fiji Airways Flying Fijians 2018 November Tour.
“The road doesn’t stop here and I just want to say two words, Good Luck for the Rugby World Cup 7s in San Francisco which starts in a month and Good Luck also for those of you who will play 15s against France because France will host the Fiji Airways Flying Fijians on the 24th of November at Stade de France, which hasn’t happened for a long time.”
Both the Fiji Airways Men’s and Women’s 7s teams will march into camp next week, to begin preparations for the Rugby World Cup 7s which will be held from 20 to 22 July at the AT&T Park in San Francisco.