The  Gordon Rugby Club is a far cry from a remote Island Village in Fiji. But if you happen to be in the Yasawa Islands, you might see the Tartan in full flight and a lone bagpiper playing “Scotland the brave”.

The Village of Somosomo, situated in the Yasawas, is a small Fijian community passionate about Rugby.
Their rugby team is the village’s pride and one of the toughest teams in the Yasawas.

Like many small villages in the area, the team struggles to find the resources required for adequate equipment, but that is all about to change.

Due to a relationship developed over many years with the Gordon Rugby Football Club and sponsorship from Multinational Audio Visual and Events Company Encore, the Somosomo Blues are being rebranded.

The “Somosomo Stags” will take to the field in a new playing kit and logo. Somosomo will proudly wear the famous colours of their sister club Gordon and don the Stag logo.

Former General Manager “Grant Pisani” has been a constant visitor to the Island. Last year Gordon donated their past playing strips to the Sevens team for their tournament in Nacula, where they made it to the Grand Final.

In May 2023, we had the honour and the privilege to visit Somosomo Village again.

The reason for the visit was to deliver to the local rugby team 30 new sets of jerseys, Shorts and socks. Over the past few months, I have been working with the board to create a long-term partnership with the village and how we (Gordon Community) can support them so they can play the game that we all love. With the Boards blessing, we found a sponsor based in Australia and Fiji with the same goal and was more than willing to fund the project.

We arrived by boat to Somosomo on Monday morning to be greeted by the village, singing a welcome song and holding a Welcome Banner to Gordon Rugby and Encore (sponsors).

Once we put a foot ashore, we were warmly welcomed and asked to join them in a traditional welcoming ceremony with the Chief of the Village.

After many bowls of carva and traditional speeches, we presented the captain and chief with the new equipment.

We also presented the village chief with a Gordon Rugby Jersey, which he immediately wore for the entire day.

The team then went off to train while we watched from the sideline before we all joined the remaining Village for a traditional Fijian Feast.

It was a magical ceremony and afternoon, and I could not be prouder representing my club Gordon.

Later in the week, we headed to an outer Island of the Yasawas to Nacula to watch the Somosomo Stags in action in the Macaqwle 7s Festival. This rugby tournament brings in the best Yasawas and the mainland teams.

Our Stags had a terrific 1st day with three wins and one close loss, putting them into the quarter-finals the next day. A win in the quarters saw us face the red-hot team from the Mainland DXC Fijian Barbarians. This team is stacked full of talent, including a past Fijian Sevens player named Semi Kunatani, who they have nicknamed “The Beast.”

We fought hard but went down 10 – 0.

While we didn’t win the tournament, the Stags could be proud of their performance. They embodied the never give up attitude that the Gordon Rugby Club is famous for

I will keep you updated throughout the year on how the team is going and, more importantly, how our partnership is strengthening and how we, as the Gordon Community, can assist.

 As for a Fijian bagpiper, that might be a few years away yet, but you never know!