Team fails objectives
THE Fiji Airways Fiji 7s men’s team failed in its objective of achieving second spot in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series following the Vancouver 7s but remains in the hunt for direct qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics which is the ultimate goal.
Fiji is tied with Australia in fourth spot on the series standing with 94 points behind France 95 points, Argentina 108 points and leader New Zealand with 120 points.
The top four countries at the end of the series will earn direct entry. However the fifth-placed team can qualify if France remains in the top four as they have direct qualification as hosts.
Fiji 7s head coach Ben Gollings said though they did not meet their objective, the result meant that they were now in the direct qualification zone for the Olympics gold medal defence.
He said they faced a tough Argentinean side in the cup semifinal of the Los Angeles 7s.
“I think LA was a good tournament but we came up against a powerful Argentina side,” Gollings said.
“Argentina is the in-form team at the moment in the series. They are also a team that has been together for a long time while we have some experienced and some inexperienced players in our squad.
“However, the disappointing thing after LA was that we did not kick on from there into Vancouver.
“We know that we were are a lot better than what we did in Vancouver. As a team, we all know that we need to back up in those tournaments.
“Had we done that, I would dare say we would have met our objective by finishing in second place.”