The Pacific Island nation of Fiji erupted into celebration on Friday after its rugby sevens team defeated Britain to capture the countrys first Olympic medal. The fact it was gold made it even more of a reason to party.In the capital of Suva, fans packed the 15,000-seat National Stadium to watch the final of the Olympic tournament on a big screen. Tense at first as they saw the nation poised on the brink of an historic achievement, fans relaxed as Fiji ran away to an emphatic 43-7 victory on Thursday evening in Rio de Janeiro.Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, in Rio for the games, issued a statement hailing a wonderful moment in the history of our nation. We have won our first gold medal at a summer Olympic Games and every Fijian is rejoicing at home and around the world.Speaking to the media later, Bainimarama recalled Cyclone Winston which struck Fiji in February, claiming the lives of 44 people and causing widespread devastation.You know we had Winston, the second-biggest hurricane that swept through Fiji in February, he said. Rugby has always lifted the spirit and always brought us together. Right now, whatever political party, theres no difference. Everyone is coming together to celebrate.Bainimarama later announced a public holiday for Aug. 22, the day after the team returns home, adding Fiji is a tiny little dot but the Olympic victory would put it on the map.The match was played at 10 a.m. local time and the nation of around 900,000 mostly stopped as fans gathered around television sets. At the University of the South Pacific in Suva, classes were halted to allow students to watch the match.A bank in Suva pinned a note to its front door saying: Fiji is about to create history. Therefore, please be advised that this branch will take a 30-minute break during Fijis game ... and will reopen after that.The Fiji Times reported fans danced in the street and said many called for Fijis England-born coach Ben Ryan to be granted honorary Fiji citizenship.It said some of them (fans) could not hold back their emotions and shed tears of joy as Ryan and his team brought glory to the country.Part of Suvas bustling Victoria Parade was closed as fans danced in the street.As the final whistle sounded ... people took to the streets of Suva with the Fiji flag, dancing and running from one end to the other, the Times said.At the offices of the Fiji Olympic Committee, staff began planning for the teams return and for national victory celebrations. A spokesman said it was too soon to say what form those celebrations would take.But Bainimarama said a wonderful reception awaits our boys when they arrive back in Fiji ... never before has the Fijian spirit soared so high as it does today.In deeply religious Fiji, fans visited churches to give thanks for the victory and some said they had fasted in the hope of improving Fijis gold medal chances.Rugby sevens is Fijis national sport and almost every village, no matter how small, usually has a team. Some villages do not have electricity, creating a challenge for some fans to watch the game.The Fiji Village website reported that 51-year-old Peni Matai from the village of Serua had traveled by minibus from 2 a.m. Friday to be in Suva in time for the game. Matai, who works for the Asian Development Bank, said Serua has no television reception.He watched the match in his office in Suva, providing updates to the village by phone.Fiji-born former All Blacks winger Joe Rokocoko tweeted that sellers of powerful local beverage kava might be multi-millionaires by the end of the week.---McMorran is based in Wellington, New Zealand. AP journalist Nick Perry in Wellington and sports writer John Pye in Rio de Janiero contributed to this story. Vans Shoes Clearance Sale . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. Wholesale Vans Australia . LOUIS -- Attorneys for the St. http://www.wholesalevansaustralia.com/ . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. Wholesale Vans Authentic . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Cheap Vans Shoes Australia .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. Mitchell Marshs immediate Test future hinges on the vagaries of Hobarts weather, as a pressured Australia wait until match morning before naming their XI to face South Africa at Bellerive Oval.In a scenario that echoes the prelude to the fateful fourth Test of last years Ashes series at Trent Bridge, the selectors Rod Marsh and Darren Lehmann are waiting until the last possible moment to name their team, leaving the captain Steven Smith unable to announce his line-up, as is customary, on match eve.Marsh is likely to play as a fifth bowling option should Hobarts weather forecast clear up and allow play on the first two days. However if the current prognostications hold true and rain blights Saturday and Sunday, Callum Ferguson will be set for a Test match debut as a sixth specialist batsman alongside four bowlers.Well wait and see what happens in the morning with the weather, Smith said. You might not need to have that extra bowling option if theres going to be lots of rain around and the bowlers are going to get some adequate rest with that. Theres possibilities that we could go in with six genuine batsmen but well wait and see in the morning when we can have another look at the wicket and what the weathers doing.South Africas captain Faf du Plessis said any signs of Australia abandoning the balance provided by an allrounder was going to be helpful to the visitors, who have fought their own team balance battles in the wake of Jacques Kallis retirement.Allrounders are fantastic to have in your team, we had Jacques Kallis playing for us for all those years and it just makes the balance of the side so much easier, du Plessis said. So I suppose they are looking at our team and what we are doing playing specialist batters and specialist bowlers, so it would also be nice to have an allrounder as well. So if they are changing it then that means that is a weapon that they do have in their team and if they change that, then thats good for us.Even if Marsh does play, it appears likely he will be demoted in the batting order to No. 7, swapping places with the wicketkeeper Peter Nevill. That change would grant Nevill the same commission he holds with New South Wales as a top six batsman, while also allowing Marsh to play with more freedom at seven. Yeah its possible, Smith said of that change. It just depends on which XI we end up with for where guys will bat. Well wait and see with that one.Smith admitted Australias confidence levels may have dipped over the course of four consecutive Test losses, the sorrt of sequence that has historically cost the job of the captain or the coach.dddddddddddd I guess its a tough one, we obviously havent played overly well in the last little while, he said. Were finding ways to get ourselves in positions where we should be able to drive the game, but were not executing well enough in those moments to take the game away.Were getting in those positions, which is a positive, but we need to find a way to make sure we really nail a team when we get on top of them. Were letting oppositions back into the game too easily. Thats one thing weve talked about here, if we get in front of the game - make sure we take the game away from them and dont let them back in.To that end, Smith said he was looking to see members of the team take the game on at critical times, mirroring the efforts of Kagiso Rabada, JP Duminy and Dean Elgar in Perth. I think thats something that Australia has done very well in Australia for a long period of time, Smith said. Weve been able to score big first-innings runs and identify those moments when we can take the game away from an opposition, and weve been able to do that.We just havent been doing it of late, thats something weve got to turn around. We have to identify those moments first of all and then when we do that, we have to execute well enough to take the game away from the opposition. Thats one thing we really need to work on.One intriguing element of this week has been the presence of Australias former batting coach Michael Di Venuto in Hobart. Despite a strong record and robust rapport with the players, Di Venuto quit earlier this year to become coach of Surrey after being reportedly declined a request for a pay rise from Cricket Australia. He was replaced by Graeme Hick, but Smith said Di Venuto had been taken back into the confidences of the batsmen this week.Its nice to have him back around the group for a week in his hometown, Smith said. Hes a magnificent batting coach and I know hes really enjoying his time at Surrey at the moment as head coach. Thats fantastic for him. Its nice to have had him around and have a little bit of a chat face to face about batting and whats going on with all that.A few of the boys have had some throws from him, which has been great. Hes an outstanding batting coach and its great to have had him around to work with this week and be able to talk some good stuff about batting. ' ' '