Naca meets the King

FIJI Water Flying Fijians strength and conditioning coach Nacanieli Cawanibuka was over the moon as he got to meet the King of United Kingdom, King Charles III in Bordeaux, France yesterday.

The former national 7s trainer was with the Flying Fijians team in France when they came across King Charles and Queen Camilla who were in Bordeaux for an official engagement.

Cawanibuka said the duo would have been treated like the traditional chiefs if they had been back home by the team.

“We actually formed a walkway for him.

“Then we escorted him out, and the boys sang ‘Oqo na noqu masu’. Basically what the boys did is what the ‘bati leka’, the warriors in our villages back home would do to protect their chief, it’s quite special,” the man from Kadavu said.

“Before he boarded his car, the boys all stood there and they sang a prayer song, they sang ‘Au rai vei kemuni’.

“I’m not sure if King Charles would’ve understood the words but the boys sang the song and that’s one thing special about our Fijian culture, we sing a prayer hymn you know, that obviously has a lot of deep meaning, he quite enjoyed it.

“He went off and we came back, the boys really enjoyed that experience.”

Fiji’s next match is against Georgia on October 1.