FIJI Airways Fijiana 7s captain Ana Maria Roqica is confident for a good outing in the Rugby World Cup Sevens women’s competition in San Francisco.
The Vativa in Wailevu East, Cakaudrove lass in an earlier interview spoke about missing out in the 2013 world cup.
“It has been a tough journey for me since joining the Fijiana team, and being the captain added more pressure for me. I was part of the team for the last world cup but I didn’t make it because of some wrong decision that I made,” she said.
“I don’t want to miss this one and I have been training so hard ever since I got back to the team.
“People have been telling that my name couldn’t be dropped because I am the captain, but I tell you the competition with the squad is really intense.
“It is an honour being part of this team, as all the girls give everything they have during training; it’s going to be a tough preparation for us as we near the world cup.”
Roqica, who made her debut for Fiji in the 2011 Pacific Games in Noumea, is optimistic that they will perform at their best in all their pool games.
“There have been a lot of new players joining the team, some of them have left because of how intense the training is, and I’ve seen the girls developed physically and mentally.
“For us, we train hard to make it to the final spot and with the comments of people saying that it’s always the old players that are given the chance and that is because we work hard for that.
“Being away from my family is hard but I find closure when I am with these girls.”
The side will face Spain in their do or die pool game as the winner is likely to face Australia in the quarter-final.
Team: Ana Maria Roqica (captain), Rusila Nagasau, Asinate Savu, Viniana Riwai, Pricilla Siata, Luisa Tuisolo, Miriama Naiobasali, Mereula Toroki, Rejieli Daveua, Ana Maria Naimasi, Tima Ravisa, Merewai Cumu.
