Information AboutWaisale Serevi |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT WAISALE SEREVI | |
| 1968 births | |
| living people | |
| rugby union fly-halves | |
| fijian rugby union footballers | |
| lomaiviti people | |
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Waisale Tikoisolomoni Serevi (born 20 May 1968 in Suva , Fiji ) is a Fijian Rugby Union footballer, noted for his skills in Rugby Sevens . However, he has also been Capped 39 times for his country in the 15-man game. He was signed to Leicester Tigers by coach Bob Dwyer , initially as a full back but South-African born Michael Horak started instead. His preferred position of Fly-half was taken by South Africa n world cup hero Joel Stransky . Tried as a wing, he produced magic, but his poor defensive skills saw him concede about as many tries as he created or scored. He was then swapped with England Scrum-half Austin Healey , moving to the wing. His spell at Leicester was unsuccessful and he later moved to Stade Bordelais in France . Probably the best sevens player ever, Serevi's record in sevens is peerless. With two Melrose Cups , five Hong Kong Sevens titles, three Hong Kong Sevens 'Most Valauble Player' awards, two silver medals in the Commonwealth Games and a World Games gold medal in 2001 his achievements are staggering. He was part of one of the best sevens sides every to grace the game, that went undefeated in Hong Kong from 1990-1992, and played a memorable role in the try recognised as the best ever scored at the Hong Kong Sevens in 1990. 10-0 down to New Zealand at the beginning of the second half of the final, the ball was thrown one handed to Serevi who, on his own 10 metre line and under huge pressure from Zinzan Brooke , "volley ball" palmed the ball over his head to the next player in line who threw it between his legs in one movement to the iconic, bearded, Tomasi Cama. From a standing start, 15 meters inside his own half, Cama outran the covering New Zealand defence, famously "goose-stepping" round John Gallagher to score under the posts and start the fightback that launched a dynasty. Fiji went on to win 21-10 and remained undefeated until losing in the final to Western Samoa in 1993. He has also represented Fiji in three Rugby World Cups in the 15-man game. Serevi retired from International rugby after the 2003 Rugby World Cup , but was persuaded by Fiji to return for the 2005 Sevens World Cup . He placed an exclamation point on his career by leading Fiji to the title, making Fiji the first nation to win two Sevens World Cups . After this win, he was named player-coach of the national sevens side. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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