Fijians swarm all over!

Action from the Rochdale Swarm versus Fijians game

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In a game that had everything that is good about sport, the Fijians emerged victorious against a brave Rochdale Swarm side at Spotland Stadium.

With the National Anthems sung before kick off and the Fijian and Union Jack flags carried on by the respective teams the whole event had an international flavour and the game itself didn't disappoint.

The Swarm had first touch of the ball and went through a settling six tackles then with their first touch of the ball the Fijians spun it wide to their right and, with electrifying pace, rounded the Swarm flank to race the length of the field for the opening score. The Swarm players thought they were in for a long afternoon!

Soon after the Fijians attacked again with their legendary flair and with the ball flying from hand to hand at pace they again broke the Swarm defensive line to score once more.

Into the second quarter the Swarm began to find there feet and with good approach work from Dave Tyson and Jim Stringer they managed to peg a score back when Craig Nagy broke through to score a fine individual try.

This though seemed to waken the Fijians from their temporary slumbers and with superb foot work and outstanding support play they carved the Swarm defence up leaving the Hornets Supporters side chasing shadows, with the latest of the Ratu Family to emerge on the Rugby League world causing the Swarm untold problems all afternoon.

Again though the Swarm rallied and debutant and Union convert Mark Thomas showed the watching crowd that the Swarm had some pace too as he danced in for an excellent solo effort.

The Fijians, not to be outdone, showed what pace they had when Ratu and Naumatua combined to take the margin away from the Swarm again. But the Swarm kept plugging away and Craig Nagy once more found the hole in the Fijian line after an Emily Wynn half break to make it a brace of tries for the day.

The half time whistle brought a welcome relief as the the weather was hot and humid, more like Suva than Sudden and both teams took in plenty fluids in preparation for the second half.

The third quarter belonged in a lot of ways to the Swarm as the managed to play some of their best attacking rugby of the afternoon as well as holding a seemingly tired Fijian attack.

After some fine approach play another Swarm debutant, Dougie McEndoo, managed to get a quick play the ball away for Scott Manock to dive in at the corner.

Into the final quarter and any notion that the Fijians were tired was very quickly dispelled as they ran riot scoring three unanswered tries with the same flair and pace they had shown at the very beginning of the game.

The Swarm players again dusted themselves down and regrouped for one final assault on the Fijian line. The referee allowed the Swarm to make a late tactical substitution when they brought on their mascot for the day, seven-year-old Jack Wynn, who from his first (and only) touch nearly scored only to be tagged by the Fijian fullback inches short of the line, much to the amusement of the watching crowd.

In the next few tackles though the Swarm were able to cross the line when stand off Allan Osbaldeston ran hard at the Fijian line drawing defenders to him before offloading to Mark Wynn who dived over the line for the final score of the game.

Fijian organiser Mike Ratu Junior said after the game that he hoped it was something which could be done again in the future and Swarm coach Dave Ramsbottom praised his players and those of the Fijian side for their tremendous efforts. 

Final Score: Rochdale Swarm 20 - 44 Fijian Association