Iliesa
Tora, RNZ Pacific senior sports
journalist
Opinion – Sevens rugby was once
deemed as Fiji’s game to own.
No one played the game
better than the Fijians who took to sevens like the
Brazilians to football.
Back in the 80s and in the
2000s, fans could virtually pick out who the winner will be
in Hong Kong, where the Fijians dominated ahead of everyone
else.
The All Blacks 7s were a close second always,
with the Australians, England, Wales and Scotland providing
some challenge now and then.
In the last 20 years,
sevens rugby has gone from a game that a few mastered to one
where almost everyone who is competing can lay claim to the
top titles on offer.
The introduction of the World
Sevens Series, now coined the HSBC SVNS Series, plus the
Sevens Rugby World Cup, and the inclusion of the abbreviated
code in the Olympic Games schedules have transformed “the
game the angels love to play in heaven”.
New Zealand
dominated the earlier years of the series and shared with
Fiji and England the world up 7s titles.
Women sevens
was introduced along the way and that has grown in leaps and
bounds as well.
In the past five years, the growth has
expanded so much that it is now impossible to pick a
standout team anymore in the men’s
competition.
Argentina, France, South Africa and Spain
have joined the bandwagon as favorites, winning over Fiji,
Australia and New Zealand almost at will some times, while
England, Wales and Scotland, now all grouped together as
Great Britain, have also been impressive.
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The women’s
competition has Australia and New Zealand leading at most
events but there have been strong challenges from France,
USA, Fiji and newbies China.
World Rugby has revised
the sevens series three times in the past and the new
format, where the top eight teams in the men’s and women’s
competitions are competing against each other means teams
will have to be at their best.
Only the top two teams
from each pool get into the semifinals. That basically means
each team must go in with the focus to win.
It makes
the competition tougher and exciting as well, which is
something Fijian men’s head coach Osea Kolinisau knows will
demand players to be fit and ready physically, spiritually
and mentally.
Singapore challenge
The Fijians
are tied with New Zealand and South Africa on 32 points each
after two tournaments – Dubai and Cape Town – and heading
into Singapore this weekend.
Kolinisau, who led Fiji
to claiming the first ever sevens rugby gold medal at the
2016 Olympic Games, told the media this week their focus
during the Christmas and New Year holidays training session
has been on wholesome fitness, with mental toughness as the
critical aspect of that preparation.
“We spend a lot
of time just talking about our mental preparation and
especially getting ready for the game,” he said.
“The
boys know that’s something that we want to clean up,
especially being disciplined, especially on our tackles.
Make sure that we make the right decision and we’re not too
aggressive.
“We want to play to the rule. We got the
boys to train fatigued, so they are tired, just to make sure
that we’re making the right decisions and we’re being
disciplined enough.
“That’s something we’ve been
trying very hard with the boys, making sure they make the
right decision when they’re tired.”
They are defending
champions too this weekend in Singapore but Kolinisau knows
the best formula for them is to just take one game at a
time.
Great Britain are first up for them on Saturday
afternoon, with Spain and then South Africa as their pool
opponents.
Taking one game at a time is also the same
sentiments shared by his Fijiana women’s team counterpart
Richard Walker.
The Fijiana are chasing top four
finish.
They are currently sitting at sixth position
on the table with 22 points, 16 lower than joint leaders
Australia and New Zealand.
To remain in the Tier 1
series, it would be critical for the side to stay in the top
four, or failing that the top six, because the bottom two
teams will be replaced by qualifiers from the Sevens 2
Series, which will kick off in Nairobi next week.
The
Fijiana side take on Australia in their first game on
Saturday afternoon, before they face USA in game two and
then battle Japan in their third game.
Walker said
they want to improve, learn from their past mistakes and be
consistent.
Review of their past performances in Dubai
and Cape Town have been done and Walker is confident the
players are ready for the challenge.
“We’ve done some
good things and the thing is to make sure that we can
replicate some of those good things,” he told the media this
week.
“We don’t want to be overthinking of what we
need to work on when we play these teams.
“The girls
have been really proactive and they’re doing a really good
job.”
News from Singapore states humidity will be at a
high again, ranging between 75 to 90 per cent.
World
Rugby said the heat and humidity in the stadium push players
to their physical limits, spiking their heart rates and
tiring them rapidly. But it also affects their performance
and can, therefore, change game plans.
The conditions
in the stadium become an ‘invisible defender’ as they cause
sweat and condensation to accumulate on the ball, making it
more like a bar of soap than a piece of sporting
equipment.
It makes the challenge tougher than
usual.
2026 calendar
The series moves to Perth
on 7-8 February, Vancouver from 7-8 March and New York on
14-15 March.
Then there is the World Championship,
which now replaces the World Cup 7s, that spread over three
tournaments.
It will kick off in Hong Kong on 17-19
April, Valladolid on 29-31 May and Bordeaux in France on 5-7
June.
To get into the Sevens Series teams must come
through Sevens 3, which was held two weekends ago in Dubai,
and the Sevens Two series.
Belgium and Canada have
qualified from the Sevens 3 in the men’s competition, while
Argentina and South Africa in the women’s join them
too.
Disappointing results in Dubai for the Samoa and
Tonga men’s teams and the Samoa women’s side, which proves
once again that the smaller nations in the game have grown
in status and strength across the board.
The top teams
from the Sevens 2 series will then get the chance to qualify
for the Sevens Series and also appear at the World
Championship.
But for this weekend, the focus will be
on what transpires at the Singapore National Stadium over
Saturday and Sunday.
All 16 teams across the men’s and
women’s competitions will be vying for crucial league points
ahead of the three-tournament Championship later this
year.
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