What a breath of fresh air the visiting Fijians have made to local rugby over the past few weekends.

The handful of visiting players off the cable ship Bold Endeavour created much enthusiasm with their flowing, aggressive running style of rugby.

Introduced to the local scene by Mariners RC, they certainly made Nationals buzz with excitement on the first weekend of the new round robin format for second XV rugby.

Playing as guests in a Combination team that included sprinklings of Police, Youth and Mariners players, their attitude in the match against Teachers resulted in a more physical game than seen in most first XV matches this season.

At half-time, the adrenalin-pumped Teachers were raring to go back into battle but the game was called off at 0-0 as referee Steve Given had to leave early for prior commitments.

Given had already taken charge of the first two matches which saw Teachers defeat Renegades 19-5 and the Combination beat Renegades 45-0, when two other referees failed to show.

This new found enthusiasm in local rugby demonstrates that it is new opposition that whets players' appetites, something that is sorely needed in a rather boring fixtures list. The round robin format also enables clubs to give all players a game as clubs can change as many players as they wish between games, thus allowing Grant Tomkins a chance to test his 17-18 year-olds in the Combination team against full senior opposition.

Five youth players were introduced on the day and Ryan Davidge shone with his blistering pace and accurate goal kicking.

Kevin Smith of Mariners also provided excitement with his no-holds-barred approach. Even though Renegades were no match for the other teams, Tim Rhodes had a particularly good day on the wing and scored his team's only try against Teachers. The experience of Trevor Roberts showed in the rucks and mauls but John Edwards gave him a hard time in the scrums.

Teachers were well served by the fleet-footed Kevin Harris who scored two tries and their forwards defended superbly against the combination team with Tim White, Dave Hutchinson and the ever-improving Pat Drea giving their all under pressure in their five metre area.

This weekend sees the second XV round robin continuing on Saturday with first XV matches returning on Sunday when Teachers expect to get past Mariners (minus the Fijians!) at 2.00 p.m. and Renegades look for a win against depleted Police.