Archive for category sports
The Rugby Movie we’ve been waiting for
Art, as they say, imitates life.
And when it comes to movies, no stone has been left unturned. You name it, they’ve got a movie for it. True stories, action flicks, girly movies, horror movies, documentaries, and the staple of all feel good stories – sports movies. Sports movies are a dime in a dozen, with almost every popular sport covered. From the rough-it-out boxing slugfest that is Raging Bull, to the hoop sailing documentary, Hoop Dreams, most sports fans have a movie that is both loved by critics and fans alike, with sports lovers identifying with said movie as well as adding it to their much hallowed dvd rack.
Except for rugby.
Rugby is a sport that, while being able to lay claim to being a world-wide sport, isn’t quite the eye catcher for movie makers in general. Most popular big budget movies that contain rugby are just that, rugby in the background. In The Four Feathers, rugby was just another tool used by the government to groom the men for war and violence and is shown briefly at the beginning. Quite appropriate if I might say so myself. The Departed has a scene at the beginning where Matt Damon plays 10 seconds of rugby before his team is shown on the losing end. Proper mainstream rugby movies are quite rare, and unfortunately, the one movie that most people will remember rugby for isn’t about rugby but rather rugby players who err eat each other.
Of course, you’ve got Forever Strong, the most recent rugby movie to grace the dvd rental stores that is, if anything, a play by the numbers clique ridden flick that adopts every staple notion of every great sports movie made and flaunts it like no tomorrow. Sorry. But its no fair when boxers have their “Rocky” and american footballers have their “Remember the Titans”, and all we’ve got are some non-new zealanders butchering the haka both on the field and in prison >.>
All however, is not lost. Hope is just around the corner. From the stable that’s brought you Mystic River, Million dollar baby and Grand Torino comes our (hopefully) saviour of a proper rugby movie, Invictus.
This is a dream come true for the oval ball fans like me who despair for a proper treatment of our beloved sport on the big screen. This movie has a lot going for it that, at least I hope, seems destined for greatness and perhaps even a few oscar awards along the way. Let’s do a checklist shall we?
1) Awesome director? Clint “Make my day punk!” Oscar chewing, .44 magnum wielding, anti-hero, manly man Eastwood? Check. Punk.
2) Awesome leading character? Morgan ‘batman’s Q” Freeman playing Mandela? Come on – he was batman’s gadget go-to guy! Who can compete with that? Batman says “check”.
3) Awesome leading character 2? Matt “My name is Jason Bourne and my head hurts” Damon playing Francois Pienaar? A karate chop to the head check.
4) Awesome story? It’s based on a true story! How more awesome can that be?! IMDB says:
“The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa’s rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa’s rugby team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match.”
Here’s the trailer to dispel any lingering doubts:
Or for you youtubers (Vinaka Kania Tiko!):
December 11, 2009 folks. As village 6 always say, “Mark the date.”
Youtube Video of the Month – Free for All Brawl
New Shiny Happy Blog 2.0!
Rugby League – Fiji Bati Vs Ireland – Live Blogging
Ah Fuck…Fiji are teh Best. Period.
What a game. What a fuckin’ game.
I am so proud to be a Fijian. So proud.
We lost the quarter finals of the world cup 2007 to South Africa.
But despite the loss, besides the fact that we’re not in the running anymore, despite all the talk about the predictions of us getting trounced by South Africa, we proved to the world something.
We showed the Tier 1 countries that when push comes to shove, we can take anyone to the wire. When it comes to just the two teams on the field, the only thing that matters is how much heart you have.
No sponsorship dollars. No fancy tight grab-hardy shirts, no 1st tier technical bullshit.
Just the game, the ball, and you.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. This is by far one of the best games Fiji has ever played.
We had nothing to lose, but South Africa had the most pressure on them. They had the hard job of keeping up their image as one of one of the top rugby teams in the world. Fiji? Why we were nothing but a bunch of lucky bastards who by some weird twist of fate, found themselves in a quarter final that by facts alone, shouldn’t even have beaten Wales.
But beat Wales we did. And we sure gave South Africa a run for their money.
In the end, Fiji did their best. And for that I salute them.
PS: Happy Fiji Day people 
There’s always a first time
Of course, my grog buddy was quick to point out that the margin difference between Fiji and Wales each time we played was lessening over the years as we seem to have improved, with the last encounter a painful 11-10. However, the fact remained. We’ve never won against them.
So you can understand my hesitance at the thought of staying up until 3am on a sunday morning just to watch Fiji lose. Or so I thought.
It was around 2am that I finally mosied down to my neighbour’s house, ready to drown my sorrows in the murky waters that is kava, my mind already made up about the outcome of the game. The usual grog doppers were all gathered around the plastic bowl, misery seemingly settled in before I arrived.
“Look on the bright side,” they said, raising their hands in a vague gesture that was either defeat or grog dopiness, “at least when it happens, we can take out our frustration on the tv.”
“Sounds good to me,” I winked mischeviously.
When the tv sparked to life, the National Side was standing on the field, arms crossed on their chest, eyes all teary, belting out the Fiji National Anthem. I stood up of course. No matter how bad Fiji plays I have to salute my country Though I was slightly annoyed at the sight of grown men shedding a tear or two on International television. Nothing irks me more then a big muscular fijian dude crying during the anthem. Man up mate! We all know Fijians are proud of their country. Let the gameplay do the talking.
To make the long story short, we won.
And what a game that was. For the last few minutes, I didn’t sit down. Heck, we all didn’t sit down, grog dopiness be damned. For what seemed like an eternity, we were leading by a measley 4 points. Four points! And boy did we hold onto that ball like there was no tomorrow.
And that surprised me. I’ve seen Fiji play in all sorts of matches over the years, but with this game, the level of professionalism was such that at times I had to pinch myself to make sure I was still watching the same team that had struggled against the likes of Japan, let alone Canada.
Granted, there were times where indiscipline crept in, and there were still elements of ‘va na koro’ rugby here and there, but for the most part, the control of the ball, the fact that we won all of our line outs, the strength of the defense, the unnerving accuracy of nicky’s kicking, it was…heart warming to say the least.
I know I’ve always been a negative bastard, but damnit, there’s always a first time.
That was by far one of the best games I’ve seen Fiji play in awhile.
And I take off my provobial hat to them.
PS: I’m not the only one who was impressed by Fiji’s game.
Babasiga had a link to a sports writer’s blog post in the Guardian Unlimited. Basically he was blown away by the brilliance of the match, and apparently was live blogging right up until the last minute, right there at the game.
Best comment on the post?
“i’m pretty sure that seru rabeni isn’t human though…”
Agreed. With a hair style like that, he’s more Predator then Rugby Player.
The Local Online Presence…
The thing is, this is a common fact across the board when it comes to the locals understanding the importance of having a website. Most major companies have websites, but most people are oblivious to its advantages. It would be nice to see websites on things such as local events eg. a Hibiscus festival website etc.
Local blogs are another story. Due to the relative ease of starting a blog, we are in no short supply for local blogging content. Heck this blog you’re reading is proof! Although lately, with all the fuss about political blogs getting the spotlight, non-controversy bloggists like us seem to be getting a slightly bad name.
Here’s hoping that common sense, a healthy dose of kava, and links to the Fiji Meats Man video will prevail.
One. Year. Work. Down the drain…
Fiji only has themselves to blame after the dust has settled at the IRB sevens. I could go on and string trees with a list of their short comings but in the end it would serve no purpose.
They messed up. We lose the cup.
No more victory soap adverts after the loss…and definitely not after seeing this video of Ryder’s interviewee skills off the field 
It certainly doesn’t help when you’re being interviewed on camera by a chick in a bar(nightclub?) with a ready supply of beer and girls are nearby.
“The quicker”?? Classic 
“Lets Play Downtown…attitude”?? He should be fired -_-
A Sweet-Bitter Victory at the Wellington Sevens
The build-up to the Wellington Sevens was one filled with dread, anticipation and a small worm sitting in your stomach reminding you that the D-Day is coming. I mean, come on…New Zealand. The one rugby team that is the very reason why Fiji has to play sevens rugby. It dosen’t matter whether other teams are getting better, or have won once or twice against us, and are going to face us in the next match. Nothing gets a fijian’s heart boiling like a showdown between us and “them“. I swear, every time there’s a match like that, the earth leans ever so slightly to one side because 905,949 people of the world’s population have stopped moving to cross their fingers (and their legs for a bowl or two) in the hopes that collective thought and mental urgency will give their team that extra boost to win.
So it was with much anticipation that on the Saturday of the game, i waited, mucking around the house, browsing online without really actually browsing (think of a soccer mum surfing 4chan) and waiting for the time when it would go down. At around 4pm I decided that a quick nap was in order, just so that I would be fresh and ready to make sure my neighbours could hear my hearty yell whenever Fiji scored.
And so I slept.
Right through the motherfucking game.
I missed it all. The beautiful 31-0, the lovely ass kicking, the cheering and screaming and joyous yelling that eminated from everyone’s mouths in Fiji, nay, from the very earth itself. I missed it all. How could I have missed that that that momentous occasion, that weekend defining moment, the whole reason to be fucking proud to be a damn fijian?
Note to self: No more late night World of Warcraft sessions on the night before or at that time for any sevens match involving Fiji against New Zealand.
Well…on the bright side we won against the country that refused to entertain our presence at the Wellington Games Parade because it started near their parliament. A smug victory indeed, and one that would have been far more smug had we won the Finals against Samoa. Which we didn’t.
God that was depressing. From an euphoric high after the victory against New Zealand, only to be taught a very nice lesson in humility and general all-round sharpness by Samoa. I could almost taste the bile that that little vile worm in my stomach had spat up, and sleep did not come easy.
Oh well. At least some people are calling this a political win over New Zealand. Kinda. Huh. Yeah. Fat chance that’ll do anything to allow our political leaders to become ‘friends‘ again
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