There will be no room for complacency when the Team Fiji men’s rugby 7s team enters the field in the opening match against Japan at the Tokyo Olympic Games next Monday.
The opening fixture is highly regarded as the toughest in any tournament and the game against the hosts will be no exception.
Playing in front of an empty stadium will also have an effect on the teams especially Fiji which has always attracted big fan support in tournaments around the world.
Fiji men’s 7s head coach Gareth Baber said they represented a proud nation with history and tradition in the sport of rugby.
Baber said playing Japan first up will serve as a stern test.
“We always look at that for the first game and we know that it is going to be tough,” he said.
“We certainly won’t be complacent going into the Olympics. There are tough matches for all the reasons which the teams bring.
“Playing Japan in the first game for anybody at nine o’clock in the morning in Japan is a test
itself.
“It is a lot about how you react to the environment and how you get your game on track quickly.”
Three Fijian players Jose Seru, Kameli Soejima and Lote Tuqiri are part of the Japan squad.
Baber said the inclusion of the trio will be an added challenge.
“We are going to have no crowd,” he said.
“But when I look at us and where we get ourselves to in tournaments and how we perform, we have talked about this.
“We will continue to talk about it as we go through the week and that becomes a good challenge for us as it is an opportunity to put our game in place.”
