Stormers winger Sireli Naqelevuki will play a huge part in the Fiji 7s team campaign at the George 7s this weekend says coach Iliesa Tanivula.
Naqelevuki joined the Fiji 7s camp yesterday and got straight into preparation, joining the side in their afternoon training session.
“He is the most experienced player in the team in terms of international exposure,” Tanivula said from the South African coastal City of George.
“He may not have been playing 7s for a while but I know he can adapt to the change,”
Naqelevuki was brought in to replace injured forward Seremaia Burotu and playmaker Nuimaia Cakacaka.
“Sireli has the speed, the confidence and talent that we need to successfully achieve the goal we have set out for ourselves in George.
He’s familiarity of the weather and team in South Africa is an added bonus.”
Tanivula is expected to name his run on team for their opening pool match against Russia tomorrow.
“The only setback we faced was the injuries we copped from Dubai but we’ve managed to sort that.
The team is raring to get back on the field, we have worked on areas this week that let us down in
Dubai. Our defence, ball handling and simply the decisions the boys make under pressure – these were some of things we’ve been playing close attention to this week,” Tanivula said.
Fiji managed to reach the semi finals in the Dubai 7s but lost 19-0 to eventual winners New Zealand.
“We’d love to win the George tournament, New Zealand is looking to win another and add to their Dubai title while South Africa is desperate to win at home. There’s a lot of teams that are eyeing the title,” Tanivula said.
“The only thing we can do is our best. If we win, we win. Right now we’re focused on getting past the pool rounds and we’ll see where we go from there.”
Fiji is pooled with Russia, Portugal and Australia at the George 7s.
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