‘Consistency is key’
TEAMWORK is one of the work-ons Fiji Airways Fiji 7s head coach Ben Gollings expects to see at the Vancouver tournament this weekend.
The team will be in action today, tomorrow, and on Monday at the BC Stadium during the Vancouver 7s in search of its first tournament win in 17 attempts.
Fiji fell short in the semi-finals in Perth, Australia last month, and Gollings affirmed that there should be some improvements noted.
“We know where we fell slightly short in Perth and we’re building off that. There is plenty of energy around the players, they know that being consistent throughout the three days is key to us winning the tournament,” he said.
“There were times that we were playing as individuals and not as a team especially in attack so it’s tidying up those areas so that we work well as a team.
“Defensively, we were good in Perth, we want to build around that performance and in areas around kick-off, which is always a strength for us, but it wasn’t as strong in Perth as it should have been and we want that to improve as we move through into this tournament.”
He highlighted consistency again as a core focus which will be challenged by pool opponent Argentina which has been embodying that concept recently.
“We’ve got a strong, fit squad; everyone is where they need to be. In terms of the benchmark that Argentina has set, they do show that consistency is key, they have been developing that team now for the past five or six years, so we’ve got to build that consistency a bit quicker.
“Consistency in the core member squad is good for us, we can bring some new people in; that causes other teams problems but also, we get to test them in this important season.”
Fiji and Argentina are drawn in Pool A with Spain and Canada.
Returning Olympian Napolioni Bolaca will captain the side as they brace for Spain in their opening match at 11.20am. They take on Canada at 4.24pm before facing Argentina at 10.33am on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Fiji Airways Fijiana 7s are in pool B alongside Australia, Japan, and the USA. They face the US at 7.30am today in their first match, followed by Australia at 12.46pm. They face Japan at 6.15am on Sunday.
The finals will be held on Monday.