The Australian Fijians certainly didn’t bring the weather with them on this tour as the snow began to fall heavily in the Rochdale/Oldham areas. It was snowball fights all round out the front of the Flying Horse Hotel as for most of the touring party it was the first time they experienced snow. The Australian Fijians had a big day of training planned with a weights session in the morning but the snow restricted the teams afternoon field session to a indoor cardio-vascular session.
Wednesday Dec 3
The Australian Fijians second world cup player Seva Koroi jetted into Manchester walking straight into the big freeze that had set upon the Greater Manchester area. A 30 minute outdoor session at Bolderstone Park weny ahead in 5 inches of snow to help Koroi acclimatise and familiarise himself with the teams plays and patterns. This was followed by a traditional Kava ceremony put on at the Flying Horse Hotel in the evening that was filmed by Sky Sports and a story done by Bill Arthur on the touring AFRL team. The night put on by the Rochdale Fijian association was a memorable one and was greatly appreciated by the AFRL.
Thursday Dec 4
With the snow still yet to subside another gym session was organised with an evening session on a Rochdale all weather pitch cancelled due to weather. This was also followed by the news that the scheduled match v Rochdale was also postponed to Friday Dec 12. This coincided with the AFRL accepting an offer to play Barrow Border Raiders on Dec 14 as opposed to York City Knights due to Yorks non-guarantee of their original match fee and the shifting of the game to a nearby amateur ground as opposed to their home ground. This saw the teams schedule now change to Hunslet Hawks on Dec 8, Rochdale on Dec 12 and Barrow Border Raiders on Dec 14.
Friday Dec 5
With the big freeze now beginning to leave us the Australian Fijians spent the day at Hopwood Campus, Middleton with an a morning gym session. This was followed by lunch and the official team photo. The afternoon was a field session then the boys were free from training until Sunday morning.
Saturday Dec 6
Thirteen of the touring party made he trek to the Reebok Stadium at Bolton for a tour of the ground followed by the premier league game that afternoon between Bolton Wanderers and Chelsea. The game was one 2 – 0 by Chelsea and was a spectacle that the boys that went will never forget.
Sunday Dec 7
A morning church service was put on by the local Rochdale Fijian community followed by a meal. The afternoon training session was cancelled for the next morning on game day. James Lagiloa stole the show that evening at the Flying Horse karaoke when he brought the house down with his rendition of Lionel Ritchie’s “All Night Long”.
Monday Dec 8
The Australian Fijians have a last run the morning of the match against Hunslet. At 5pm that afternoon the bus leaves for South Leeds Stadium for an 8pm match against Hunslet Hawks. The Australian Fijians started the match scrappily as expected with a disrupted preparation but settled down to race to 22 – 6 half time lead with Taika Vatuvei starring in the first half for the tourists. The second half though was spoiled by foul play from Hunslet which led to retaliation from the Australian Fijians and resulted in Vatuvei going from hero to villain and being sent of for punching. The Hawks ten minutes later also had a player sent for foul play. The Australian Fijians, in what was a second half ruined by fights and scuffles, went on to win 42 – 10 and maintain their unbeaten record on tour. Vatuvei until being sent was the best player on the field. Suli Koroibulileka was unstoppable and crossed for a try as well as several breaks he made also. Joe Delana, Junior Rika, James Storer and Eloni Vunakece were other standout for the team.
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