The leadership qualities provided by Bristol Bears star Semi Radradra was enough to bear down the stress of being in an enclosed arena such as the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games athletes’ village.
Radradra did not get much game time during the rugby 7s competition at the event, but scored a decisive try against Argentina in the 26-14 semi-final victory.
Fiji 7s head coach Gareth Baber said he knew the position that Radradra was in.
“I knew Semi wasn’t at the fitness levels as that of the other boys and there was no way he could get to that,” Baber said.
“I knew having worked with him previously that there will be two or three key areas he could bring higher-level quality of skills to our team, but not only to himself but lead others in that direction.
“I also knew that off the field we still needed strong leadership in the group to be able to bear the stress of a place like Tokyo with the COVID-19 restrictions in games village experience.
“Somebody like Semi has been there and done that and he can still do it.
“In terms of our culture and how we travelled through the days and the rhythm that we had, he was there.
“So I think that there was always a gamble in that position and we trusted him.”
