Communication and lack of depth in team cost Fiji 7s - Kolinisau

After a poor performance by the Fiji Airways Men’s National 7s side during the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles, coach Osea Kolinisau says communication and lack of depth in the team was their downfall during the tournament.

The Fiji Men’s 7s side lost all their pool matches and was defeated by Great Britain 31-19 in the 7th place playoff.

While speaking to fijivillage Sports, Kolinisau says they had made six changes from the team that won the Singapore 7s due to injuries.

He says he didn’t have the depth of experienced players to choose from for the Championship in LA, and he was confident in the young players to deliver.

He adds that it was their plan from the start of the season to take their strongest side to LA, but they could not do that as some of their main players were injured.

Kolinisau confirmed that he chose players who would participate in a tournament.

When asked what went wrong during the tournament, Kolinisau says there was no communication within the team.

He says they started strong against New Zealand in their first pool match, but when New Zealand starved them of possession, the communication dropped.

The 7s coach also says they lacked communication against Spain.

In the 2024/2025 HSBC SVNS World 7s Series, the Fiji Men’s 7s finished second with 96 points after winning two tournaments, the Dubai and Singapore 7s.