FIJIANA FITNESS IMPRESSES INTERIM COACH
The players’ fitness level has really improved since the first day of training and I’m happy-Ro Alifereti Doviverata
Ro Alifereti Doviverata is happy with the fitness level of the Fiji Airways Fijiana 7s squad.
And the interim coach is confident the team should be ready to play ball when the 2018/19 Women Sevens Series kicks-off in Glendale, Colorado, USA on October 20-21. “For the last three weeks, it has been tough training for them. But they have managed to survive and grind the hard yards to come this far,” the former Flying Fijians captain said.
“The players’ fitness level has really improved since the first day of training and I’m happy.
“We have two more weeks to train before we leave for the United States.”
The former national 15s and 7s captain has an inkling that the players could do the job in their first assignment..
“I have some potential players in mind that I am willing to select that will be part of the national squad,” he said
“We are not new to rugby as some of them might be new to sevens but we have conditioned them to play sevens.
“I have been with the some of the 15s players in the squad since 2016 and they know what’s involved.
“We will be naming the final squad next week.”
Doviverata would not take injured players to be part of his squad.
“It’s the team culture that we need to have. I have got my own style of coaching and I won’t be gambling by taking injured players. I prefer to take players that are 100 percent fit for the series,” Doviverata said. The side play the opening game against Canada on October 21 at 5am, France at 7.56am and Ireland at 9.58am.
ROAD TO 2020 OLYMPICS
The Women’s Sevens Series in Colorado is the first step on the road to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan. Defending series champions Australia will face Russia, Spain and Mexico in Pool A. Rugby World Cup Sevens winners New Zealand are joined in Pool B by hosts USA, China and England.
France and Canada, who finished third and fourth respectively in the 2018 series, take their place in Pool C alongside Fiji and Ireland.
World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said: “With the addition of Glendale, the women’s series increases to six rounds this year, in line with our ambitions to provide more high-quality competition under the wider Women’s Plan 2017-25.
“With the world series also acting as principle route for qualification for Tokyo 2020, we expect this season to be more competitive than ever as teams compete for a place at the Olympic Games.
“After an outstanding Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco, which attracted record audiences, we are delighted to be back in the US and looking forward to watching an action-packed weekend of high octane and fast-paced sevens rugby.”