MARIST Brother Primary School under-9 rugby side escaped from the jaws of defeat as they successfully retained the Rauluni trophy against Suva Primary School at Corpus Christi ground yesterday.
MBPS were fortunate to secure a 5-all draw which allowed them to celebrate their first defence of the trophy this season.
SPS came out firing and played with determination in a bid to tussle the trophy away from its holders. However both teams settled with a try a piece and the law favoured MBPS to defend the trophy for another week.
Despite the loss, SPS coach Jiuta Wainibuli was impressed with the performance of his young players.
"It was a very tough game for us, we came here well prepared for the match but unfortunately we drew that match and Marist took the trophy home for another week," he said.
"My boys played really well but that is the outcome and I am thankful to the referee for controlling the game very well."
Meanwhile Wainibuli said he was impressed with the performance of the players despite the first game of the season.
"We are happy with the support from parents, they players played really well even though this is only the first round. I believe they will be a vast improvement in future games," he added.
Results:
U9: SMPS II 17 HTAS 0; MPS 5 SPS II 0; JWPS 20 VAT 0; MBPS 2 SPS I 5
U10: VAT 0 AOG 7; CMFPS 14 MPS 0; DFS default HTAS; MPS 0 JWPS 7
U11: SPS 21 TPS 0; STAG 21 AOG 0; JWPS 0 SMPS 7;
U12: SPS 0 DIS 21; MPS default JWPS.