Fiji Airways Fiji 7s men’s coach Osea Kolinisau says there’s no excuse for losing their cup semi-final clash 10-12 against South Africa at the Vancouver 7s on Monday.
Speaking upon arriving at the Nadi International Airport, Kolinisau says things didn’t work out for his side.
“We just didn’t cover our opportunities, we had a lot of opportunities, there’s no excuse,” he said.
“We got a leg up and they got red carded. and then we just lost control. Everybody went back to being individual, trying to do it on their own instead of trying to do what we talked about.
“We talked about South Africa; they like to defend close together and then we wanted to attack them on the edges.”
Kolinisau said the initial game plan was to use the wings to create scoring opportunities.
“When we get the ball, we want to make sure the field is big enough and then keep the ball for a couple of possessions then let our steppers do their steps in the middle.
“But straight from the game, after our kick-off, everybody just started to try and finish the game off quickly instead of being in control like we were in the last pool games of the quarter final.”
He said the team lost control of the game after scoring their first try in their last match.
“We were five-nil ahead, we didn’t need to rush anything. We could have just stayed in control and just played to the system we talked about going to the edge, tire them out and then play as a team and convert opportunities.”
Kolinisau said the South African team capitalised on Fiji’s inability to take advantage of conversion opportunities.
“We had four or five opportunities in the first half, we should have converted and finished off that game, but we didn’t and two opportunities in the second half. We converted one of them in the second half to lead and it came down to the wire.
“I talked about it with the boys. South African boys, they’ll attack, if they know they can attack, they’ll kick, and we knew they were going to kick but there’s no excuse.
“We should have won that game and It’s hurting the boys. It’s hurting us a lot because we know the tournament was ours for the takin but just not converting opportunities is letting us down.
“When you come to crucial time, the team that controls the game and manages the opportunities properly, that team always comes out on top. I’m disappointed to in the attitude we showed against Spain, it wasn’t the Fiji team that we strive for especially the standard we hold ourselves to.”
Kolinisau said the team is still in striking distance despite dropping to third place in it’s standings.
“We’re six or eight points adrift from Argentina and four points adrift from Spain. we wanted to win that last play so we can stay second, cut down the point margin but that’s how the ball rolls.
“That’s something we want to go to Hong Kong with i mind that we want to make sure that Hong Kong, if we want to win the series, is a must for us, to give us a chance when we go to Singapore.
Kolinisau said the team will be polishing up on ball possession control, converting opportunities and decision making before the team sets off for Hong Kong.
“I’m thankful to the boys at the end of the day, we lose as a team. We win as a team; that’s on me as a coach. We’ll go back now to the playing board, work hard on our weaknesses, and make sure that we are well prepared for the Hong Kong Sevens and the Singapore Sevens.”
