FORMER Fiji 7s halfback Apenisa Valesu says discipline and missed tackles was the cause of Fiji’s early exit during the opening round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series which has resulted in our 7s gladiators missing out on a cup quarterfinal spot in Dubai for the first time in 21 years.
“It isn’t the start we wanted and definitely a lot of Fijians, if not all, will be disappointed at the start, and a hard wake up call,” Valesu said.
“Discipline was lost from the start and we gave away four yellow cards in three games, which is just one too many,” Valesu said he watched all of Fiji’s pool games and in his opinion not convincing saying the performance of our gladiators was a shadow of the team that we were used to seeing and that the players seemed lost at times.
“They seemed to have lacked some direction but that is what pressure will bring,”
Fiji’s missed tackle count was also not up to par with the defending series champions averaging 10 missed tackles per game.
“Hopefully Baber will have adjusted himself and know what changes to make going into the next round in Cape Town next week. “It is still early days in the series and I know our boys can bounce back.”
Men’s pool game results: Samoa 19-12 Canada, New Zealand 36-7 Wales, Australia 43-14 Scotland, USA 24-19 Ireland, France 12-10 Argentina, Fiji 24-17 Japan, England 36-7 Spain, South Africa 17-12 Kenya, Samoa 31-12 Wales, New Zealand 31-7 Canada, Australia 45-21 Ireland, USA 31-21 Scotland, France 41-5 Japan, Fiji 21-24 Argentina, England 12-5 Kenya, South Africa 35-5 Spain, Canada 31-14, New Zealand 40-7 Samoa, Scotland 29-31 Ireland, USA 12-24 Australia, Argentina 33-7 Japan, Fiji 24-14 France, Spain 22-19 Kenya, South Africa 19-14 England Womens pool game results Spain 12-10 Ireland, Australia 38-0 Fiji, Canada 24-19 Russia, USA 29-7 Brazil, France 29-0 England, New Zealand 48-0 Japan, Spain 19-19 Fiji, Australia 38-5 Ireland, Canada 43-0 Brazil, USA 33-14 Russia, France 21-7 Japan, New Zealand 40-12 England, Ireland 12-28 Fiji, Australia 38-5 Spain, Russia 22-7 Brazil, USA 34-10 Canada, England 31-14 Japan, New Zealand 14-19 France
