Fiji Men’s Rugby Team Sings Gospel Hymn to Celebrate Olympic Gold Medal

After securing Fiji’s second Olympic gold medal ever on July 28, the Fiji men’s rugby team celebrated by singing a traditional gospel hymn titled, “E Da Sa Qaqa,” which translates to “we have overcome.”

“We always start with our prayers and songs,” said team captain Jerry Tuwai, “and we always end with our prayers and songs, and that song says that our God is a loving God, and that while we always tend to go [astray] from what he expects from us, he still loves us, and gives us good things.”

‘We Have Overcome by the Blood of the Lamb’

After Fiji beat New Zealand 27-12 in Wednesday’s final, the victorious men’s rugby team gathered in the stadium to sing “E Da Sa Qaqa.” The lyrics say:

We have overcome
We have overcome
By the blood of the lamb
And the word of the Lord
We have overcome

Sing it loud and proud, Fiji rugby! What great voices! #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/QdG3lT6MsW

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 29, 2021

Singing this song after victories seems to be a tradition for the Fiji men’s rugby team. The team sang the hymn after beating France during the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens. New Zealand, which took the silver medal home from the Tokyo Games, defeated Fiji during the semifinals of that world cup. “Oqo Noqu Masu” (“This Is My Prayer”) is another hymn the team sometimes sings. 

The team also sang “E Da Sa Qaqa” after winning the country’s historic first gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016. Tuwai was present for that victory as well. “Thank You My Lord For Everything,” he wrote in a Facebook post the day of the 2021 triumph. “We asked for the Fire coz we know He will be with us through the Heat. God Is Good.”

Tuwai said that the second gold medal is “even more special” than the first because of the challenges the team members have dealt with over the past five or six months due to the pandemic. 

Fiji is currently experiencing one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the world. The week after Easter 2021, the men’s rugby team began a five-day training camp, and on the second day of the camp, Fiji went into lockdown. The players have not seen their families since. They spent the ensuing months living in a hostel and training in a gym they built in its garage. Several team members, including Tuwai, thought about quitting during that time because of how much they missed their families.

Tuwai said he thought that his team’s victory would help lift the country’s spirits: “I think they’ll not be thinking about the pandemic now.” Fred Wesley, editor-in-chief at The Fiji Times, wrote,

When all things are said and done, there can be no doubts about the impact of tonight’s victory on the people of our nation. Staring at a blank wall since April with the number of COVID-19 cases going out of hand, Fijians finally had something to feel good about. We were united as a nation.