Former Fiji 7s star player Viliame Satala has urged the Vodafone 7s team to increase the tempo of their defence in Hong Kong.
Satala, known as the “Stretcher” for his bone crunching tackles is one of the players who had gained rugby respect for playing in Hong Kong.
He said Hong Kong was a different battle ground and players with a lot of guts could withstand the pressure there.
“I believe the boys needed to tackle a little harder on the ball carrier and make it count,” he said.
“Defence has been the main weakness of our team and only if they take care of the defence, everything will fall into place as attack comes naturally to Fijian players in sevens rugby.”
The Namoli man from Lautoka also stressed that Fijian players should feel at home when playing in Hong Kong.
“We have been playing there since the first tournament decades ago and players from Fiji should always feel at home when on that turf. That helps calm the nerves because from the players’ view looking towards the grandstand, the atmosphere is unbelievable, anyone can lose focus and nervousness creeps in and you lose your game plan.
‘I was fortunate to represent Fiji in 1994, 1999, 2000 and 2002 and the Rugby World Cup in 2005, and I always consider the So Kon Po Stadium as Lautoka’s Churchill Park which was my home ground and mentality always helped me in settling nerves before kick-offs,’ said Satala.
Another 7s great Mesake Rasari, who was a member of the hat-trick win in Hong Kong in 1990,1991 and 1992 and the player of the tournament in 1992 urged the players to work as a team and ground the ball carrier in every tackle.
‘”They should ground the ball carrier with legally hard hitting tackles and that would have an effect on the scoreboard,’ said Rasari.
Both men have given their full support to Gareth Baber’s boys.
