It’s now or never at Cape Town Sevens
It was not the finish we had all wanted from our Fiji Airways Fijian men’s rugby sevens team at the Dubai Sevens. It was disappointing that they missed out of the Cup quarterfinal by a five-point difference, which saw New Zealand and Argentina getting the upper hand.
What made it worse was the fact that our team finished ninth and was dropped to fifth spot in the HSBC World Sevens Series points standing. This year’s Series is the qualifying event to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in France. The top four men’s and women’s teams at the end of the Series automatically win spots at the Olympics. Now, we are not one of the top four teams.
A lot of soul searching needs to be done by our players in the next few days before the Cape Town Sevens tournament in South Africa kicks off on December 9-11. It’s crucial that players need to take a relook at their attitude, mindset, discipline and mistakes made.
Although there are nine tournaments remaining in their Series, the Waisea Nacuqu-captain side cannot afford to drop any further on the points table when the dust settles at this weekend’s Cape Town tournament. They need to be back at the top three at the end of the year before going for the kill in next year’s tournaments.
This weekend, the Fijians are pooled with hosts and Dubai Sevens champions South Africa, France and Canada.
Again, it’s another “pool of the death”, but our players have got what it takes to make the Cup quarterfinals and win the Cape Town tournament. Our players need to work together as a team right from their first pool match and avoid playing catch-up rugby. They’ve got to bounce back fast and stay in contention for the top spot of this year’s Series.
Meanwhile, our Fiji Airways Fijiana women’s sevens side are also in fifth spot of the HSBC World Sevens Series points table.
The Saiasi Fuli-coached side qualified for the Cup quarterfinal as the best placed third team. It was the women’s first tournament in the series, and they had several players playing in their first sevens tournament. For Cape Town, they are pooled with New Zealand, Great Britain and Brazil.
Like our men’s side, the women’s side need to lift their game in Cape Town this weekend to finish the year in the top four.