Saiasi Fuli coached Fijiana came from behind to defeat a strong Ireland side 17-7 in their opening Pool B match of the Hong Kong 7s today.
Fijiana contested the play from the first whistle and put on an impressive performance countering the strong Irish forwards.
The Tokyo Olympics bronze medalists could have gone up only if youngster Meredani Qoro had not knocked the ball forward in the second minute.
Stacey Flood broke the deadlock in the fifth minute after Lucy Mulhull offloaded from a tackle and passed it to her to score the opening try and Mulhull converted for 7-0 lead.
Speedster Reapi Uluinasau tried to bring Fijian back into the match but Emily Lane raced and tackled her out of the play.
Ireland led by 7-0 at the break.
Fijiana came out firing in the second spell when Ivamere Nabura found an unmarked returning star Raijeli Daveua and she raced under the post and Captain Ana Naimasi converted to equalise.
Just seconds later, Captain Ana Naimasi caught a Fijiana kick-off and sent a long wide pass to Qoro and this time she made no mistake diving at the corner flag for her first try but the conversion failed.
Former national sprinter Younis Bese came off the bench and added huge depth in the team and had a one-to-one with Uluinasau before she barged for their second try. Conversion attempt remained unsuccessful, Fiji led by 17-7 at half time.
Later in the match, referee Craig Chan flashed a yellow card to substitute Lavenia Cavuru for intentionally kicking the ball out of the play despite Ireland’s penalty.
In another match, France thumped Japan 38-7 while the USA defeated Spain 35-7.
Fiji will take on Brazil in their next match at 9.04pm tonight.
