Thousands of people gathered to pay their last respects to former Flying Fijian, Seru Rabeni at the Nasinu Cemetery this morning.
Rabeni’s funeral was attended by close family members, representatives from the Fiji Rugby Union and current and former students of Ratu Kadavulevu School.
Among those at the funeral were Mosese Rauluni, Viliame Gadolo and Norman Ligairi who played with Rabeni.
37‑year‑old Rabeni passed away at his Nausori home on Tuesday.
Rabeni represented the country in the 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cup tournaments. He made his 7s debut in Dubai in 1998, playing in two Hong Kong 7s tournaments.
Rabeni also played for Fiji in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
Rabeni grew up in Bua and played rugby union from his early schooldays at Ratu Kadavulevu School.
He first played provincial rugby for Lautoka from 1998 to 1999 while studying at Lautoka Teachers College, before moving to Suva in 2000.
He played at both U21 and U23 level for Fiji before making his test debut in May 2000 against Japan in Tokyo during the Epson Cup tournament.
In 2001, Rabeni took up a three year degree course at the University of Otago, and the following year played seven games for Otago in the National Provincial Championship before gaining a Super 12 contract with the Otago Highlanders.
He played a dozen games over the 2003 and 2004 Super Rugby season.
Rabeni also played for the Leicester Tigers.
