Winning the Brisbane Fiji Day Rugby 7s title is a positive indication that Fiji is on track to regaining lost pride at the IRB World 7s series in the upcoming season.

Besides returning home with the spoils, the Emosi Vucago skippered team also scooped the $4000 prize money thrashing Uprising Beach Resort 34-0 at Sunnybank Rugby Union club grounds in Queensland over the weekend.

The side which remained undefeated in the tournament played six games and proved that defense is not a concern as Corinthians was the only team that scored a try against them.

Fiji 7s coach Waisale Serevi indicated that besides using the tournament to gauge their preparation to defending the 7s World Cup title, their exposure was also a confident booster for the young guns.

The sevens maestros singled out Navosa players Iveri Lavo as his man of the tournament.
“First and foremost I would like to thank Dr Tuicolo and the Queensland Fijian community for the invitation,” Serevi said.

“It was a great opportunity for us to expose and test the new players and see how well they can adapt to both the travelling and playing and most importantly how well they gel with the experienced players.”

“And it was pleasing to see that the team bonding and team work was great. I was particularly happy with Iveri Lavo, whom I thought made a great effort to continue to improve each time he took to the field from the pool rounds through to the finals.

“We could have opted to stay at home and play local teams but I believe we would not have been able to learn as much if we had done that. Here at home we have a general pattern of playing, it’s more passing and running while overseas it’s all power and strength, two great qualities of playing that I believe the boys learned and grasped.”

For the aging sevens star, the tournament was also an eye-opening experience as coach, to getting to know the players’, their weaknesses and strength on and off the field of play. He also made a special mention of his leaders on the field of play, Captain Emosi Vucago and his assistant Etonia Naba for ‘leading with example.’

“I was also very happy with the outstanding defensive play and ball retention the team displayed which was around 99 per cent. These I believe were our major weaknesses in the last Series, so hopefully with what we have seen we hope the two areas will not be much of a problem this time around. I say this because out of the six teams we played, only one managed to cross our line to score”

“I must also mention my two captains; Vucago and his assistant Naba whom I thought led the team well both on and off the field. And also to the other senior players in Lepani Nabuliwaqa, Isei Lewaqai, Vereniki Goneva for their support and helping to ensure that the new players were kept in line.”

Whilst happy with the win, Serevi admits the outstanding display in Brisbane also means a tougher job for him and his fellow selectors as they seek to field the best team in the upcoming Dubai and George 7s tournaments.

“It was a very successful outing for all of us because we were also able to see the strengths and the weaknesses each player brings to the team, and try to better the former and improve on the latter,” Serevi said.”

“We have set ourselves a great platform to work on as we look towards the upcoming 7s Series. I have told the boys that we can get better and we have to get better.

“But I must admit; we have a tougher job on our hands now to select the team to Dubai and George with the outstanding display especially by the new boys. On that note, we are hoping that the new players who did not make the trip to Brisbane get to go in one of the upcoming 7s tournaments lined up before Dubai so that we have a fair idea of where they stand and it will definitely make our work a lot easier.”

There are a few more overseas tournaments coming up; however Serevi said the team management would have to sit together with the Fiji Rugby Union to map out proper their preparation plans including the warm-up tournaments.

In other results at the Western Union Fiji Day Rugby Sevens, the Shield Final was taken out in a tight and physical encounter by the Corinthians 29-19 over Ovalau Breeze, and the Plate Final was an all Brisbane Premier Rugby affair with GPS getting home 22-12 over a spirited QUT.

Meanwhile, the ticket prices for the Brisbane Fiji Day Rugby 7s were sold at $5 for adult, student and pensioner paid $2 while children under the age of 12 had free entry. The event culminated with a gala dinner hosted at Accor Hotels in which tickets were sold at $65.

All the profits from the event were donated to the Cure Kids Fiji charity.

Results:
Dr Tuicolo Cup:
Grand final; Fiji Warriors (Fiji) 34 Uprising Beach Resort (Fiji) 0
Semifinal: Fiji Warriors 26 Brisbane Fiji 0
Quarterfinal: Fiji Warriors 54 Falealupo 0

Shield
Corinthians 29 Ovalau Breeze 19

Plate
GPS 22 QUT 12
Pool Games
Fiji 20 Hinterland 0, Fiji 64 Towoomba Fiji 0, Fiji 24 Corinthians 7.

Fijilive

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