Like every other rugby club in the country, Taha Rugby Club director and founder Johnson Kau’ata says the main goal every year is to have members of their team play rugby at provincial, national, and international levels.
After forming the club in 2019, Kau’ata said they had groomed rugby players from different racial groups, where a few had even managed to secure overseas playing contracts.
“Majority of the members of the squad are young guns from 19-25-year-olds,” Kau’ata said.
“While the majority are Rotumans, we’ve had iTaukei, a few Tongans, and Indo-Fijian players too over the years.
“One of our players Alfred Vugakoto was named last week in FMF Suva under-19 to compete in Skipper Cup.
“We have a few boys who have semi-pro contracts in Australia,” the Rotuma native said.
The club had just recently received a sponsorship deal from the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LICI) which will boost their performance in the Koroturaga Cup.
He also mentioned the club started training at the end of January and had previously beaten clubs like Marist, Lomaiviti, and USP who have previously won the Koroturaga Cup or the Escott Shield.
However, the goal of the club is to improve its rugby platforms and form a junior and women’s teams, and progress to help form a Rotuma Provincial Rugby Union in a few years.
“Currently working with rugby stakeholders, Fiji Rugby, and their development manager Lionel Danford, Flying Fijians scrum coach Graham Dewes (Rotuman descent) with a little bit of advice from Seremaia Bai too.
“We have support from Rotumans in the UK and Japan, and LICI sponsorship is the first established corporate to partner with our humble rugby club.”
