Konnichiwa for the very last time; this is the Don Epeli on behalf of Fiji 8th man UK

With my last post from Nippon and as I head home soon, what a great occasion it was yesterday here in Oita. Fiji again took on and nearly slayed the dragon 🐉 but the Taffs came back and beat us after we took the lead in second half.

Every welsh man congratulated my friends and I afterwards acknowledging that Fiji again had hit them where it hurt.

After the great standing ovation, I headed to join the team at their hotel to have kava and talk with them about what could have been but thanked them for all their effort in this campaign.

Its been a great 21 days following the team from Sapporo in the North to Kamaishi in the east to Osaka in the middle to Oita in the west,

Also thanks to the 8th Man UK team back home. I’m coming back as I miss my bed and I’m over noodles. 

Vinaka vaka levu and sayonara!

Love 

The Don

Konnichiwa this is the don from Oita city. I was once again privileged to be present at the team jersey presentation tonight where the boys were in a very positive mood. It was great to see them as His Excellency the Ambassador of Fiji Isikeli Mataitoga gave a very encouraging speech as did the Chairman of FRU Frances Keane.

Now, tomorrow is judgment day again between us and our old friends Wales 󠁧󠁢󠁷where for 80 mins, we will again be foes. Earlier I was present at the Fiji tourism show and watched a few students perform Mekes. The crowd joined in the party atmosphere.

This is the don again from Japan saying Sayonara.

Well the day started well as we got to Kamaishi by catching a special service train from where we were staying in Morioka to Kamaishi. The place where the Tsunami hit and devastation hit the area. So it was quite an achievement that they have rebuilt this area from scratch. Met my fellow Fijian fans who were like myself, quite confident.

As always had good chats with the opposing fans, our Latin American friends Uruguay 🇺🇾 who we had put on try fest last two times we played. However this game did not go to script and Uruguay 🇺🇾 played the game of a lifetime. Had it been against another side I would have cheered them on but it was against my beloved Fiji.

Fiji after 15 mins did not look good and made error after error where normally we’d hit at peak. After 60 mins I told my friend Stan we were going too loose as nothing is going right for us and despite a late surge Fiji 🇫🇯 lost 30-27.

Time to move on to Osaka next week against Georgia 🇬🇪 Let’s hope we salvage something For Fiji 🇫🇯 ever Fiji 🇫🇯

Tune in for more 🇫🇯🏉📣

Greetings all! This is the don Epeli and Fiji’s 8th Man UK; man on the ground in Nippon. I am about to Embark on a train journey now to Morioka which is halfway between Tokyo and Kamaishi where Fiji’s next game against Uruguay will be.

With Fiji’s first game over, we nearly pulled off a shocker against the Wallabies. The team did the country proud and I on the other hand, had a great time mixing with my fellow Fijians who came from all over Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, USA and the UK. It was good to see the few familiar faces and, even bumped into old friends and family.

So onwards now to Kamaishi for Wednesday game it will be my first trip on train around the country not by choice as would have preferred to fly.

The logistics of getting to this location is not easy but for the love of Fiji I’ll go that extra length. Bought a 5 day JR Pass which costa about £150 = 20,000¥ and you don’t have to use on consecutive days but just use 5 days within a 2 week period.

This allows me to travel around the North east side of the Island. So will be an interesting journey because I get to see the countryside as I’m flying to the rest of the games. Was interviewed the other morning about the game on Saturday by Australian Radio about the Wallabies match told them we tried our best and had a chance to win but must move on and focus on our other opponents.Also that at least my job at AHC in London is safe now. Anyway until the next time, this is the don on behalf of 8th man UK saying Sayonara

Tune in for more 📣🏉

Bula and konijiwa my fellow Fijians. My journey to Tokyo started on Wednesday at check in and a fellow rugby fan makes contact at the que asking by any chance if I was going to Japan. Yes in reply, “what gave it away ha ha?” Exchanged a few stories about World Cup pasts and our teams chances in this World Cup. Both of us looking forward to the journey to Asia.Steve is from Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 and Following the Celtic nations in this years tournament going to Watch Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v Ireland 🇮🇪,A couple of Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 pool matches.Told him I hope the game between our nations is the same as Nantes 2007 and not Hamilton 2011.

I arrived into Narita Airport after a longer trip then we were supposed to have. This was due to a baggage handlers strike in Schiphol Airport. I used the 4 hours delay as an opportunity to meet and say hello to fans from England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ireland 🇮🇪 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Argentina 🇦🇷 and Holland 🇳🇱 who were all making their way to Japan for the World Cup. It was interesting seeing who they predicted for the champions. Had a smooth flight to Narita and was so glad to get to Japan after the 10 hours flight ✈️.

Today I was fortunate enough to attend the opening game and ceremony For the 9th Rugby World Cup where I joined a very partisan crowd apart from a few Russian fans as the host Nation took on Russia. That was a great atmosphere with the Russians not reading the script and scoring a try in the first five minutes. However Japan came back and scored a deserved try not long after. Japan would take command of the game in the second half as the Russians didn’t capitalise on a couple of attacking breaks they made.Overall the Japanese thoroughly deserved their win. Before the match I had visited the famous Shibuya crossing where thousands of people cross weekly. Was a great experience now for a couple of hours sleep and my trip to Sapporo to cheer on the Flying Fijians take on Australia. Could this be another World Cup upset? This is the don saying Sayonara for 8th Man!

Stay tuned for more 📣🏉🇫🇯