The 15th edition of the Coral Coast Sevens is set to be a showdown as New Zealand’s All Blacks 7s team prepares to challenge our national 7s side when the tournament kicks off in January 2025.
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Drua to join 7s fiesta
Exciting news for rugby enthusiasts as the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua team is set to compete in the 2025 McDonald’s Fiji Coral Coast 7s in January.
This announcement was made by the Fijian Drua and the tournament organisers in Sigatoka yesterday.
[Read more…] about Drua to join 7s fiestaTavuni Hill Fort – an 18th century fort constructed by a clan of Tongans | Sigatoka | Fiji
Youtube video
c1800s
A clan of Tongans arrive and settle atop the hill for its natural defences and commanding views. They were led by Maile Latamai Finau who left Tonga after a dispute in the reigning Tuipelehake family.
He sailed to Fiji with an entourage of priests, warriors, carpenters, craftsmen and fishermen. Oral histories say that he stopped in Kadavu, Serua, Korotogo, Yanuca and Cuvu before settling at Tavuni.
Finau married two women from the district of Conua. His first wife was from Narata and died after giving birth to a daughter called Salote Tupou. He then remarried to a woman from Nadrala and had a son called Orisi Moala. According to local tour guide Laneita Nainoca, “Salote’s descendants today live at the foot of Tavuni Hill Fort. They are called the Mataqali Henibua while Orisi Moala’s descendants now reside at Nawamagi Village further up the hill from Tavuni. Their mataqali or clan is called the Matanisiga.”
Today there is evidence of a chief’s bure at the highest point of the fort, stone walls, lovo pits (earth ovens), and nearly 56 house mounds.
The ground is littered with shells which the inhabitants presumably brought from the river to eat and discarded when finished. The descendants of the original Tongan settlers are called the “Noitoga”.
1876
During the Colo Wars (1875-1876), the indigenous people of the interior of Viti Levu resisted British colonial rule.
The Colonial Administration assembled a native constabulary of over 1000 men to pacify the kai Colo.
In 1876 during the reign of Noitoga chief Kunatui, Tavuni was stormed and destroyed by government troops. Kunatui later died of battle wounds. The hill fort was never resettled afterwards.
2000s
The village of Naroro at the foot of the hill began work to restore the Tavuni Hill Fort. It has cleared paths and runs regular tours for visitors.
There are many descendants of the Tongans living in Sigatoka today as a result of intermarriage and adaptation.
The descendants of Finau and his followers now can be found in the villages of Naroro, Korotogo, Nawamagi, Malevu, Cuvu and Nadrala in Nadroga; Waicoba in Navosa; and Vatutu and Waqadamu in Nadi.
Historical information given is adopted from https://fijianhistory.com/tavuni-hill-fort
Kolinisau added into RugbyTown Walk of Fame Sigatoka
The Fiji Coral Coast 7s has inducted former national representative and newly re-appointed Fiji Sevens coach Osea Kolinisau into their RugbyTown Walk of Fame.
[Read more…] about Kolinisau added into RugbyTown Walk of Fame Sigatoka8 Things to Know BEFORE Visiting Robinson Crusoe Island on the Coral Coast in Fiji
Fiji has some incredible cultural experiences you can take part in and traditional shows to watch.
Of all the islands we have visited in Fiji, we found that Robinson Crusoe Island offers some of the best and most unique activities like cooking classes, firewalking, snorkeling, and hermit crab races (yes really!).
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