Pasifika Sipoti in brief for 16 June
Photo:
PHOTOSPORT
Former All Blacks Pita Gus Sowakula will join the Flying Fijians squad after the two early tests against the Wallabies and Scotland next month.
Head coach Mick Byrne said the France-based loose forward will be eligible to play for Fiji from 6 July, the day Fiji meets the Wallabies in Sydney.
fijivillage.com
reported Byrne saying that Sowakula wants to be involved with Fiji heading into the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
The PacificAus Sports Cricket Invitational is underway in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
PNG played first up but were beaten by the Australian indigenous team by eight wickets.
PNG had scored 108 for 6 from their 20 overs.
Sunday's second match, between Samoa and Vanuatu, was abandoned due to rain.
On Monday, Samoa is up against the Australian indigenous team while PNG faces Vanuatu.
The PNG Hunters suffered a narrow 18-16 defeat to the Sunshine Coast Falcons on Sunday in round 13 of the 2025 Hostplus Cup in Port Moresby.
The
Post Courier
reported the game was a tightly contested match and the Hunters fought hard but couldn't overcome an early deficit.
The Falcons Falcons led 16-12 lead into the break.
The Hunters remain in eighth spot with six wins from 12 games so far.
Two former students from the famous Queen Victoria School in Fiji will be on opposite sides of the field in Saturday's Super Rugby Pacific final.
Crusaders Sevu Reece and the Chiefs' Emoni Narawa both went through the Tailevu-based school that has dominated Fiji's secondary schools' first XV rugby competition, known as the Deans Trophy.
Both were in action for their teams during the semi-finals.
Narawa scored twice in the Chiefs' 37-17 win over the Brumbies, while Reece played a strong game to help the Crusaders beat the Blues 21-14.
Palau's national men's baseball team have won the 2025 Taiwan-Palau Baseball Exchange Tournament, an important stepping stone towards their Pacific Mini Games campaign.
The
Island Times
reports the Palau team won all their six matches.
Palau Major League and Palau Baseball Federation Chairman, Mlib Tmetuchl, says the event gave their players much-needed game time before they host the Games from 29 June.
The ambassador from the Republic of China (Taiwan) Embassy in Koror, Jessica Lee, says the Palau team recently returned from more than a month of training in Taiwan.
She says they are gold medal prospects at the upcoming Pacific Mini Games.
Weightlifting Fiji has finalised their nine-member team to the 2025 Pacific Mini Games in Palau.
The
Fiji Sun
newspaper reports head coach Henry Elder has named his team to challenge for medals at the event, which officially opens on 29 June.
The Pacific's number one lifter in the men's 88 kilogram category, Nehemiah Elder, is in the team and is a top prospect for medals.
In May, he won three gold medals at the 2025 IWF World Youth Championships in Lima, Peru, in the men's 89kg youth division.
Others in the team include 2023 Pacific Games gold medallist Taniela Rainibogi.
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