THE inclusion of Yaro Chiefs players, along with other new faces appearing in the Fiji Airways Fiji men’s 7s camp, is to see how the current squad fares against new prospects wanting to make it into the final team.
Head coach Osea Kolinisau says the inclusion of Yaro Chiefs players Wame Ratuva and Tomasi Stark in the extended training squad seen on Tuesday at Albert Park in Suva, is in line with this.
“Like I said, it’s always open, always watching the games. Wame (Ratuva) and (Tomasi) Stark played a good game at Coral Coast,” Kolinisau told the media.
“We wanted to have a look at them and see how they do against the boys because most of the boys that went to Singapore, they didn’t play in Coral Coast.
“We feel it’s a young side so we wanted to test them against the boys that are in the squad.”
And in having the new faces add to their ranks and fight for a spot to don the white jumper in Vancouver, Canada next month, he emphasised how the message was driven into them.
“In the squad, I told the boys ‘Here it’s best on best so make sure you bring your point of difference when you come here.’,” Kolinisau said.
“You want to see if they have got what it takes. They understand the way you want to play, the pattern and how they’re dealing with the players.”
“We want boys that are going to compete in here. I told the boys ‘If you’re not going to compete in here, you’re wasting our time.’”
“We want boys that come here to compete and push for our sport.”
He added the absence of familiar faces did not mean an exit from national duties however “they need to go and work hard.”
