IN the eyes of former Fiji 7s skipper Isake Katonibau, former teammate and current Fiji Airways Fiji men’s 7s head coach Osea Kolinisau ticks the right boxes.
Katonibau played alongside Kolinisau in the HSBC SVNS in the previous decade under the guidance of then head coach Ben Ryan and were part of a team that ushered in a modern golden era for sevens rugby in Fiji.
Times Sport caught up with Katonibau on Wednesday at Bidesi Park in Suva, where he was assisting a rugby team preparing for an upcoming tournament.
In an interview, he commended Kolinisau for the work he had carried out as head coach of the national sevens side.
“Oscar (Osea) Kolinisau has been doing a remarkable, really good job with the Fiji 7s team,” Katonibau, also known by the moniker “Eyes”, shared.
“We can actually see the difference from the past, from the last two years, coming to the Dubai, just previously on the weekend.”
He added how under Kolinisau’s tutelage, the national side had improved greatly in certain aspects of their performance on the field.
“We can see the boys, the defence has improved, the way they attack has improved, attacking in threes, offloading game is actually working out for Fiji,” he mentioned.
“I can see that their energy is aligned because offloading, it comes with alignment. And (when) the energies will align; everything will just free flow.”
He related these factors to their recent performance at last weekend’s Dubai 7s, where Fiji lost 21-24 against New Zealand in the semi-final.
“So, that’s a lot of good work they’ve done over the years, over the past two years and we can see although they went out, they lost in the semi-final but we can see all the positives, the off-loading, the defending in threes.
“There’s still work to be done but I know Oscar and the boys will come together and improve on that.”
With the Cape Town 7s kicking off tomorrow, Katonibau has wished the national team well and attributes mental preparedness and proper recovery as vital areas of focus for the team to focus on in the hopes of breaking their seven-year winless cup trophy jinx.
The last time Fiji won the Cape Town 7s was in 2018, when they beat the United States 29-15 in the cup final.
Meanwhile, head coach Kolinisau’s band of sevens gladiators face hosts South Africa in their first pool match on Saturday at 10.44pm, Great Britain on Sunday at 1.38am and New Zealand later at 5.19am.
