VODAFONE 7s captain Osea Kolinisau was disappointed with his side’s performance at the HSBC Canada 7s where they took bronze medal at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver yesterday.
“I am a bit disappointed, we wanted to win in Las Vegas and here,” Kolinisau said
“It didn’t go according to our plan, played well in Vegas and here. In the semi-final against England, England played really well. We didn’t have possession, they kept most of it particularly the kick-offs and the ball went their way.”
Kolinisau was proud with the way Fiji bounced back after its 7-40 thrashing by England to win 28-24 over USA and win the bronze medal.
“It’s not easy after a huge defeat and I’m thankful to the boys for putting bodies on the line and came out third in the playoffs and beat a very good USA side.”
Following the semi-final loss, Kolinisau told his players to refocus and particularly win the restarts which was their downfall against England.
“I told the boys to enjoy themselves and let’s go there’s another game to play and we regrouped really well and we came back well.”
When questioned on his thoughts on how Fiji’s games were controlled, Kolinisau said the referee was the sole judge of games.
“That’s rugby and the referee’s the sole judge and what he says goes in the game. We didn’t capitalise on our opportunities…we started well against England, had we capitalised on opportunities it would have been a different story. Congratulations to England.”
English captain Tom Mitchell said he had never had a score like that against Fiji.
“It was really an impressive performance … when you play Fiji you keep the ball, they enjoy playing when they have the ball and they are very dangerous when they have the ball.
“It was more impressive the number of tries we scored, we nailed them for a lot of the game. To nil Fiji, one of the best attacking sides in the world is impressive and we are lucky perhaps in the end to concede one try.”
While England went on to defeat South Africa in the final, Mitchell said they cannot sit on their laurels. The side would rest for a few days before they start preparations for the Asian leg of the series.
“We can’t sit on our laurels because people always improve when they are in the world series.”
