Nasoko try saves the day against Samoa
“We got the performance in terms of heart, soul and spirit and that was great to see,” said Fiji Airways Fijian 7s coach Gareth Baber
Lanky Fiji Airways Fijian 7s forward Kalioni Nasoko’s 35th try of the HSBC World Rugby 7s series saved the Fijians from an embarrassing quarterfinal exit after beating Samoa 12-10 in Hamilton, New Zealand.
Fiji started the game well in the opening Cup quarterfinals registering the first points through a converted try to SevuloniMoceinacagi in second minute to lead 7-0. However Samoa returned with two unconverted tries and deprived Fiji of possession for the majority of the game.
Fiji was sloppy with their discipline conceding five penalties to Samoa’s one, but Samoa made more errors with six to Fiji’s three. However Fiji made an impressive statement in their defence holding off the Samoan attacks for 13 phases.
Recording 19 tackle attempts, three missed tackles and with an impressive 84% completion rate. Coach Gareth Baber’s message to the players was winning possession.
“Possession is key and if you are going to tackle, make sure to make those one on one tackles stick and make it count,” Baber said.
Fiji increased their win ratio against to 69% to Samoa’s 31%, Fiji has defeated Samoa 54 times while Samoa won 21 times.
Baber said the players showed good character fighting all the way through. “We were not as accurate as we had been in the other games; we forced the game a little bit in the second half and a good way to get the result that we needed,” he said. “Sometimes we do not always get the performances we needed when you line them up in terms of data, but we got the performance in terms of heart, soul and spirit and that was great to see.”
He said there were some missed opportunities but it was a learning process for them.
Baber said the players showed good character fighting all the way through.