Gollings sets target
THE aim is to win the HSBC Vancouver 7s.
This was highlighted by Fiji Airways Fiji 7s men’s head coach Ben Gollings as the side departed for Canada on Monday night.
When questioned whether the Fiji 7s side can lift the cup title next weekend despite not winning any tournament title for the past 17 tournaments, Gollings said it was always possible.
“I always think that we are capable of a win and we talked about the Perth 7s where we set ourselves really well, however, did not finish what we needed to do on day three,” he said.
Gollings, who recently has been under fire from fans here at home, faces a daunting task when they meet series leaders Argentina in pool A alongside Canada and Spain.
“Vancouver 7s is our main focus and we are looking forward to meeting Argentina in our group. We know that they (Argentina) have set the standard and that is a good level up and we will play from there.
“It would be nice to take one or even both (Vancouver 7s and Las Vegas 7s), which is always a big ask because of the three-day tournaments, but nothing is impossible and we as a team are building.”
The national 7s side is in second spot on the HSBC SVNS Series with 44 points, 14 behind leaders Argentina.
“We want to push for that first position,” Gollings added
He said they were travelling a week earlier to Canada before the tournament to acclimatise and have quality scrimmage sessions.
“We will be using a team from Seattle that is quite a good team in the United States competition for our scrimmage session on Thursday.
“We really want to focus on our training for a week and we then move to Vancouver, where the idea is to have a slightly quieter week.”
Gollings also emphasised the need to manage the two weeks ahead as back-to-back tournaments would be hectic.
The Vancouver 7s kicks off on Friday next week.