Suva schools battle for Deans U18 title; Marist faces Lions in final

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Suva Grammar School’s Philip Baselala on the attack against Natabua High School in their under-18 semi-final match of the Vodafone Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union Super Deans Championship at Prince Charles Park in Nadi. The Lions edged Natabua 30-26 to book themselves into the U18 final against Marist Brothers High School. Picture: JONACANI LALAKOBAU

Suva Grammar School and its neighbour Marist Brothers High School will battle in the Vodafone Super Deans Championship under-18 final at Churchill Park in Lautoka next Saturday.

Suva Grammar beat a strong Natabua High School challenge 30-26 in the first U18 semi-final while MBHS outclassed Ba Provincial Freebird Institute 17-13 in the second semi.

Suva Grammar skipper Livai Tawake said composure and teamwork stopped Natabua in their tracks.

“The coach told us to be humble in our approach and as players, we planned to play cautiously and absorb everything Natabua threw at us,” Tawake said.

“Natabua was eager to reach the final. They fielded three of their Coca-Cola Games sprinters and they outran us.

“But we continued to work hard and moved foward as a team. We finally won and we are happy with the result.

“It’s not over yet. We’ve reached the final and we will go back, regroup, and do our best in the final.”

MBHS coach Jone Temo is confident they could travel to Flagstaff next Saturday with the Deans Trophy.

“We have been struggling through the zone competition. We finished third and we beat other top teams. We will beat Suva Grammar in the final,” Temo said.

Other finals:

U14: RKS vs MBHS

U15: RKS vs QVS

U16: QVS vs SGS

U17: SGS vs MBHS

U19: Ra High vs Rt Navula

U18: SGS vs MBHS

Raluve Championship:

U16: Sigatoka vs Naitasiri

U19: Natabua vs Jasper

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