Fiji sevens looking for Olympic mojo

FIJI – The Fiji sevens team are attempting to simulate the intensity of tournament time in training, in an effort to revive their World Series title defence.

The Olympic gold medallists are third in the World Series standings, 21 points behind runaway leaders South Africa, who have won three of the first four legs.

Under new head coach Gareth Baber they’ve finished runners-up in Wellington and fifth in Sydney.

The Welshman said she has taken plenty from his first fortnight in the hotseat.

“There’s a lot of good we’re doing at the moment and I feel pretty confident the way we play the game but, as any coach will tell you – you need everybody to understand exactly how you want the game to be played, both with and without the ball, to be successful and it’s areas of our game we will continue working at,” Baber said.

“I don’t want to lose what is our point of difference as a squad as well. I saw that in Sydney and I saw that in Wellington also but obviously as the coach you’re always looking at things you can work on.”

Baber said they’re trying to recreate the intensity and pressure situations that happen in tournaments.

“It’s finding ways to do that and challenge the players to think clearly and emotionally control themselves in a game and tactically get things right.

“There’s obviously certain areas of our game that we’re looking at when pressure comes on how can we be better and other areas that really serve us well as well.”

“It’s a good period to get together and reflect on that, go over some of those learnings from the previous two tournaments and see exactly how we can develop it going out onto the field in Vegas and Vancouver,” he said.

The World Sevens Series resumes in Las Vegas in two weeks time. - RNZI