Baber – Composure and discipline helped the team

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Fiji 7s players after receiving their gold medal. Picture: REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

Team Fiji men’s rugby 7s coach maintained its composure and discipline on their way to successfully defend the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The Gareth Baber-coached side faced giant-killers Argentina in the semi-final grinding out a 26-14 victory after being down 12-14 at the break.

Baber said day three of action was good for obvious reasons as they got a lot right in what they planned.

He said Argentina was a tough side.

“I was aware that probably out of all the teams around the world, they had played the most number of international rugby matches over the last year,” Baber said.

“They played in several tournaments like in Spain, Dubai and the United States. So they had good international tournament game time under their belt.

“I was wary of that and I knew that they were a difficult side. It is close to a Fijian side that you can get on an international level.

“They play a good high tempo game. They don’t have particular set structures with the way they attack and their defence is based around work effort and scramble.

“So I knew that it would be tough and we had to be physical like we were against Great Britain.

“I thought we did that well and we maintained our discipline. I was aware that they would get a try or two but we managed ourselves mentally through that.”

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