Fiji 7s will have to be ready to win ugly at the Olympics - Cawanibuka

The Fiji Men’s Rugby 7s side will have to be ready to win ugly in their pool matches as teams are coming into this Olympics 7s tournament well prepared.

While speaking on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan, former Fiji 7s Strength and Conditioning coach and current Swire Shipping Fijian Drua Head of Athletic Performance Naca Cawanibuka explains the threat that the teams in Fiji’s pool bring with them in this tournament.

Cawanibuka, who was part of the gold medal-winning teams in Rio and Tokyo, says it is going to be really tough for our gladiators and it will be very competitive till the end of the game and for the players not to expect winning by big scorelines.

He says Fiji’s first opponent, Uruguay will still be a dangerous team despite not playing many tournaments in the HSBC World SVNS series.

He adds they have also not played against Fiji much, but they will be very feisty and they are made with the same fibre and mindsets as the Argentinians.

Cawanibuka says as for the USA, they will be coming in with the mindset that they have beaten Fiji before and will be hungry for more wins against them.

He says with France, they will be banking on their golden boy Antoine Dupont as he is going to play a massive part in the team.

He adds that the French side will be coming in with a lot of athleticism, fitness, and flair.

Captain Jerry Tuwai, while speaking from the Games Village earlier this week, said France is one of the teams to look out for as well as New Zealand and Argentina as they have been performing well this season.

Coach Osea Kolinisau also mentioned that the players are their biggest rivals and they need to get their mindsets right on game day.

The Australian 7s team kicks off the competition against Samoa at 1.30am tomorrow.

The Fiji Men’s 7s will take on Uruguay at 3am tomorrow in their first match, they will then take on the USA at 6.30am, before playing hosts France at 1.30am Friday in their final pool match. The Men’s quarter finals will kick off at 7am Friday. There will be a break on Saturday for the official opening of the Paris Olympics 2024 before the competition resumes on Sunday. The semi finals will kick off at 1.30am Sunday, and the final will be at 5.45am Sunday.