Time to go for the kill
Fiji ready to push for gold
RIO DE JANEIRO: Years of meticulous planning and traversing the globe winning back-to-back Rugby Sevens World Series titles had coach Ben Ryan prepared for just about anything when he revealed his Fiji squad for the Olympics.
One thing he couldn’t guarantee was the reaction of the players who missed out, a response he now regards as the measure of the team.
“One by one, they came in and one by one I told them their fate and to a man they were outstanding in the way they took their news,” Ryan recalled.
“If they weren’t selected they thanked us, they shook our hands and they left with their heads held high.”
It proved once and for all, in case there was even a tiny doubt in Ryan’s mind, that the squad he’s been honing for Rio de Janeiro is way, way bigger than any individual – this group of players is what Fijians everywhere refer to as the “people’s team”.
And the people have high expectations. Fijians have competed in the Olympics since 1956, but have never won a medal. They’ve never had a chance until now, though, to contest their national sport at the Games.
“It is fair to say, Fiji are close to meltdown with Rio fever,” Ryan told World Rugby this week.
“It is always an obsession on the island to follow the team but has gone to a new level with the Olympics. Hundreds have lined the training pitch to watch us.”
Since moving from England in 2013, Ryan has harnessed the passion Fijians have for their kind of football, reinforcing the bonds between the game and the people in a Pacific island nation which has become too familiar with seeing its best rugby talent move abroad seeking opportunities.
Despite never reaching the World Cup semi-finals in the traditional 15-a-side game, Fijians have long been the masters of the abbreviated Sevens version because of their size, speed and flair.
So when Rugby Sevens was added to the Olympic programme for Rio, the goal posts shifted and gold became the goal.
Even former San Francisco 49ers player and Australian National Rugby League star Jarryd Hayne quit the NFL in a bid to make the Fijian team – but he didn’t give himself enough time to break in.
The inspirational Osea Kolinisau will lead the men’s team, after he has carried the Fiji flag at the opening ceremony for the Olympics.
With 243 matches in the World Series, the 30-year-old is right for the job. He topped the tackle count in the 2015-2016 season and, when Fiji was still recovering from the devastating Cyclone Winston, Kolinisau dedicated the Las Vegas stop on the World Series circuit in March to the people, delivering the title with a Player-of-the-Match performance in the final.
The following month in Hong Kong, the Fijians won again to all but secure the World Championship.
“Winning the world series last season was a really massive one,” Kolinisau said. “When we went back home, our normal threehour trip from the airport took us about 10 hours. Villagers wanting to thank the team for what they’ve done.”