Meli Laddpeter 
James Bolabiu and Tevita Rokovereni
For the first time in 16 years, a Fijian referee has been selected to officiate a tournament final in the HSBC 7s series.
Tevita Rokovereni was selected to officiate the men’s final of the Vancouver 7s this afternoon between South Africa and Argentina.
The last Fijian to officiate at an HSBC 7s final was High-Performance Referee Manager James Bolabiu at the Hong Kong 7s in 2009.
Bolabiu says Rokovereni’s selection is a huge achievement for the Fiji Rugby Union and is proud of how far refereeing in Fiji has come.
“It’s been a long time, and I know the feeling he is going through right now as I have been there and done it also. Sixteen years later and for this to happen again is a huge milestone. And me being the referee manager, this investment by the Fiji Rugby Union is bearing fruits.”
Bolabiu says with the current development programs in place for local referees, we can expect to see more locals officiate important matches.
He adds that the new target now is to have local referees officiate at international 15’s matches.
