FIJI Airways men’s 7s halfback Pilipo Bukayaro is hoping to make his return to the national side for the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles next month.
The season-ending tournament will be held on May 3–4 at Dignity Health Sports Park, the venue for rugby sevens at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Bukayaro missed selection for the Hong Kong and Singapore 7s and admitted that his fitness was not up to standard.
“I wasn’t fit enough and that’s probably why I didn’t make the team. But now that I’m back in camp, I’m giving it everything to be ready,” he said after a training session at the High-Performance Unit yesterday.
The 24-year-old said his main goal is to make the final squad that would represent Fiji in the high-stakes LA 7s.
“I have no second thoughts I want to make the squad that is going to the LA 7s championship,” he said.
The national side has been in camp for a week and is focusing on improving areas that led to previous losses.
“We were told to work on our clarity and all of our weaknesses because this competition in LA is an important one for the team,” Bukayaro said.
He said the team was only focused on getting better, not on who they will face.
“This is a big tournament, whoever wins, takes the title. We’re preparing well and aiming for nothing less than a win.”
Fiji will play New Zealand on Sunday, May 4, at 6.06am in their opening match, followed by Australia at 9.07am.
Their last pool match will be against Spain at 12.13pm.
Meanwhile the final squad for the LA 7s will be announced tomorrow.
