Fijian Approach Produces Surprise Winner in Utah Girls Fall 7s

10.13.2022

Utah Youth Rugby’s fall 7s championships produced a big surprise in the girls bracket.

Wasatch/Provo, which had struggled to find victories over Majestics and United in the early going this fall, ended up beating those opponents in the state final tournament to win it all.

The upset wasn’t really an upset if you ask new Coach Wes Biutanaseva. The Fijian native had been working with the girls for some time instilling a more Fijian approach to 7s. He and the players just needed to be patient to let the idea take hold.

“Provo wasn’t really known for 7s and Wasatch played kind of an old system,” said Biutanaseva. “So it made sense for us to put them together. One thing I see a lot in girls 7s is there’s a lot of physicality. They go into contact a lot.”

Biutanaseva wanted to change that. He wanted to let the ball movement do the work, but he also knew it would take a while to embrace.

“Moving the ball was something new for them,” said Biutanaseva. “So we spent time focusing on the skills, and on moving the ball from sideline to sideline. When you do that is doesn’t matter how big you are.”

You want to go to space out wide, but if there are defenders there you either go into contact (common in American girls rugby) or you pull out and keep the movement going. It’s the latter that Biutanaseva preached.

“Coaching it is hard, and changing is hard,” said Biutanaseva. “We had to do the same thing over and over to get it into muscle memory. We did this stuff for two months straight.”

The players started to see the benefit. They started to see how keeping the ball alive in 7s put defenses under pressure. It wasn’t perfect. They would follow the plan and win and then slip back into bad habits, but Biutanaseva and the played stayed patient.

“It’s look-up rugby,” said Biutanaseva. “We let the ball do the work, we made a lot of offloads, and they started to believe in it.”

The Wasatch/Provo Lady Steelers were led by Miliana and Laura Pulu, who are smart rugby players who understand the game well and add an injection of physicality, too.

Vasiti Turagavou exemplified the fitness this style of rugby requires and she was hugely active, always running in support and making tackles.

Sela Uluave and Phoebe Biutanaseva were the playmakers finding opportunities for teammates. Zion Stone and Noemi Barrios were clinical finishers. And Skyle Scholpy Strong just plays smart rugby in tight.

It was a validation of the open-rugby approach, and while the Steelers did surprise their opposition, they can’t rest on their laurels. Friday sees the start of the two-day Pink 7s.

“Majestics and United are great programs and we have a lot of love for them,” said Biutanaseva. “But they might want some revenge now!?