If you know anything about rugby sevens, you know there is a place called Fiji and there is something special about it. Made up of 300 islands and less than a million people, it has neither the population nor the geography to easily produce a world-class team in one of the world’s major sports. However, that is forgetting one critical factor…Fijians! They have unity; perhaps it’s an island thing; They have the flair, style and a joyful way to play, maybe that is all the sunshine; They have toughness, a resilience, and last but not least, they seem to consistently produce folk that are as strong as an ox with the speed and agility of a hare. These combined attributes make Fijians special when it comes to sevens.

However, these attributes make them good at something else too. They make fantastic soldiers, and this has not been overlooked by the British Army, whom they can join as commonwealth citizens. There are now around 2000 active Fijian personnel in the British army, carrying out just about every job possible. One of these fine chaps realised that with so many potential players all residing in the UK they could probably get a half decent 7s team together – and he was right, although decent is an understatement.

Autiko Domonakibu, his two cousins Amori Nailago, and Sakeasi Yabia combined their efforts to create a team. However, their ambitions were a little more than just a team, more even than to unite their brothers in arms. They also wanted to reach out to the youth in their region, initially to Fijians but they always welcomed all-comers in true rugby and Fijian spirit. Autiko told us “we want to share our knowledge and talent; it would be great if we could be part of the England 7s development pathway. For us it makes no difference if a player makes it for England or Fiji, we just want to give them the best chance we can.”  They had their mission, now they needed a name.

Within the already special Fijian islands, a smaller group of isles make up their own province, known as the Lomaiviti islands. The Lomaiviti do not just produce players, they produce legends. Legends including [please lower your head while his name is spoken] Waisale Serevi, as well as Marika Vunibaka, and the Raulini brothers just to mention a few. Within these isles there is an island known as Suva and it is here that you will find the Lonaiviti Rugby Club. With this club, Autiko played when he was back home and where he got the name for the Lonaiviti Sevens UK.

Clearly, Autiko is a modest man that doesn’t like to sing his own praises, it took me what seemed like weeks of asking questions before he revealed that he had been sending kit to the guys back home. So, he wants to unite Fijians in the UK, he wants to give soldiers a community outside of the military, he wants to pass on his skills to the youth so they have a chance of making it, and now I find out he is driving around southeast London to pick up donations to send back to Fiji. He has also started to create a website to get more people to donate shoes and clothes that he can send back to Fiji https://domonakibaugifts.co.uk/. This started out with a little help from the Bula Boots charity (that’s the one Ben Ryan help set up), who helped with their initial distribution of boots. Once this worked the boys of Lonaiviti sevens UK wanted to do more. They collected stash for the sevens team back home and gave their used kit to other rugby players. Then, when their GO Fund Me campaign failed, the UK based lads put their hands in their pockets and paid for all the shipping themselves.

The LOMAIVITI UK sevens team was founded in 2016 and immediately got off to a great start. In their first season they were finalists in the plate at Frome, plate winners in Farnham, then stepped up to Cup finalists at the North Dorset 7s. They had tasted success and smelt ultimate victory, so they came back to take more scalps in the following year. In 2017, they became cup winners for the first time in the Middlesex 7s and made it all the way to the playoffs in the south-east region of the RFU’s 24/7 series.

These achievements and others started to get them noticed and as a result, they were able to find sponsorship from Marlborough RFC and Compeed. This had several effects, firstly a name change – to the Marlbrough Compeed 7s. More importantly, it gave them the funds to enter more competitions both domestically and internationally. The sponsorship also helped them with their initial mission, the funds allowed them to set up their own academy team!!!      

Not satisfied with just the one new club, the Lomaiviti guys have created another in the USA.

This year has seen yet more change because their goals and those of Marlbrough were no longer aligned. This has resulted in them losing a slice of their funding and their name changing back to the more interesting Lomaiviti UK Sevens team. Whatever happens, the guys are keen to get back to playing sevens and by all accounts, it sounds like they will walk the length and breadth on the country, on their hands, if that is what it takes to get a game. However, if you or someone you know would like to support them in their mission, I am sure they would be very grateful.

I would like to thank Autiko for taking the time to talk to us, and we wish he and the team every success in the future.