Experience in Camp Vital for Fiji 7s
Heading into the Hamilton 7s in New Zealand and Sydney it’s good to see some old and experience faces in the Fiji 7s squad.
With 19 days to go, the tempo and the intensity of training have definitely risen to another level.
Currently fifth on the HSBC Seven Series table, the mission for NZ from the 21-22 of this month is to surely move up the table.
A week later from the 27-29 of January in Sydney Australia our men get another shot of winning another tournament.
Time to nip it in the bud, our players have surely learnt their lessons from their 2022 experience.
It’s a new year and a new season where coach Gollings has surely mapped out a strategy for the Fiji 7s team.
Kudos to coach Gollings for roping in some experience players in the training squad. Back at training are 2016 Rio Olympic Gold medalist Savenaca Rawaca and two times Olympic Gold medalist Seremaia (Jerry) Tuwai with Naitasiri and Army open side flanker Anasa Qaranivalu,Sevuloni Mocenacagi with playmaker Napolioni Bolaca.
Having these experience players in the squad and camp is an advantage.
Sharing their knowledge and experience to the young players will be valuable.
After seeing their training pictures on social media, surely many questions will be raised about their availability and how their experience will be valuable.
The answer lies in the hands of Gollings on when and where he will shift decks to call his trumps at the right time.
If Tuwai returns then the playmaker burden on Waisea Nacuqu could be eased in the two tournaments.
Another candidate for the playmaker’s role is nippy and experience Bolaca.
His inclusion the team to Hamilton and Sydney could spark some expensive rugby 7s over that weekend.
Bolaca is not new to the job but adds a lot of experience in a role that needs to be fixed very quickly.
On the other hand Qaranivalu could be another forward that will add pace and power to the team.
The departure of robust rover Kaminieli Rasaku have opened the opportunity for Mocenacagi and Rawaca to add their much needed experience.
With the Coral Coast 7s coming up should there be any x-factor on display that might impress Gollings for the vacant position.
All these experience players had already put their hands up for selection should Gollings
review his options.
For now we will leave it to Gollings and his coaching staff to select a team that can put on a good performance this month.
Back to back tournaments after a shot break will be challenging but these players know and are ready to do the job.
We were expecting something extraordinary to happen in this two tournaments as we scrap for the top spot.
We were hoping our Fiji Airways Fijians men’s will light up the HSBC Sevens Series.