Mental preparations will be key for Fiji at the Olympics - Cawanibuka

Mental preparations will be a key factor for the Fiji 7s team as they prepare for the Paris Olympic Rugby 7s competition that kicks off next Thursday.

While highlighting this on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan when asked about the preparations of the Men’s and Women’s teams for this year’s Olympic Games, former Men’s 7s Strength and Conditioning Coach Naca Cawanibuka says the inclusion of Osea Kolinisau, two-time Olympic gold medallist Jerry Tuwai and Olympic winning coach Gareth Barber is an advantage to the team.

He says the last four weeks have been critical for the team, and they have a balance of players who have won World Cups, Olympic gold and an experienced coaching team.

Cawanibuka also shared some key elements of the success during the Rio and Tokyo Olympic Games. He says the Tokyo Olympics was a massive tournament in terms of the outcomes, as the Women’s team won bronze and the Men’s team won gold.

He says no one expected the women’s team to win a medal, and that is the beauty of the Olympics because it presents an equal chance to everyone. He says for teams to win medals in the Olympics is massive because countries spend millions of dollars on preparations, even to win a bronze medal.

Fiji will face Uruguay at 3am next Thursday in their first match, they will then take on the USA at 6.30am on the same day, before playing hosts France at 1.30am next Friday in their final pool match.

The Men’s quarter finals will kick off at 7am next Friday. The semi finals will kick off at 1.30am next Sunday, and the final will be at 5.45am Sunday.