The Henderson Hammer Heads Women’s team from the Solomons capital of Honiara have confirmed their participation at the Digicel Suva Rugby Festival in January, becoming the first women’s team from overseas to register.

“We have had several enquiries from women’s teams and we expect a good number to attend, but the Henderson Hammer Heads are the first to confirm.”
Digicel Suva Rugby Festival organising committee chairman Vilikesa Rauca said.

Women's rugby in Solomon started this year with the help of a Niuean women’s 7s rep. Six clubs are now involved in a weekly 7s competition and hope to start 15s in the near future.

Team manager, Paulini Whiteside, said: "The players are really excited about the trip to the Digicel Suva Rugby Festival, not just to visit Fiji but to play rugby there. It's a whole new thing here in Honiara but we believe we will learn a lot in Suva.”

“The girls are training every day and the police officers here are helping in their preparation. These officers are from Samoa, Niue and Cook Islands and have played rugby before.”

“The support from families and friends are tremendous and taking part in the Digicel Suva Rugby Festival will surely be a memorable experience for us. We urge all our relatives and all Solomons supporters in Fiji to come cheer for us!"

Held 15-23 January 2010, the Digicel Suva Rugby Festival is expected to be one of the biggest rugby festivals in the world with more than 200 teams taking part.

As a build-up series, the Suva 7s Series kicks off in Suva on 6-7 November before moving to Lautoka on 11-12 December and Labasa on 8-9 January with a total of $45,000 prize money at stake across the three tournaments.

Registration for Tournament 1 on 6-7 November closes Friday 30 October.

The winners and runners-up of each tournament will qualify for the International 7s section of the Digicel Suva Rugby Festival in January.