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Returning Fiji Sevens coach warns against writing off defending champs

Waisea Nacuqu of Team Fiji on his way to scoring a try during the Men's Rugby Sevens Pool C match between Team Fiji and Team USA at the Stade de France during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. (Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Gareth Baber believes has warned against writing off defending Olympic Champions Fiji at the Rugby Sevens in Paris.

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Baber rejoined the Fiji Sevens team for the Olympic Games, having previously led them to gold in Tokyo three years ago.

Baber had been involved with Edinburgh as a backs coach and is currently the director of rugby services at Cardiff Met. He returned to international coaching after Fiji sacked their previous head coach with three World Series tournaments left before defending their Olympic crown.

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World Rugby Guide to Rugby Sevens

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As double Olympic champions, the ‘Flying Fijians’ are considered strong medal contenders, even if they go in as underdogs to Paris 2024 after a disappointing 2024 SVNS season.

They started their campaign with a commanding 40-12 victory over Uruguay, followed by an equally impressive 38-12 win against the USA.

“I was asked to come in to try to help to put right some of the big issues around the squad and to support the new coaching team,” Baber told the WRU website.

“Cardiff Met have been fantastic in allowing me to split my time to work with Fiji and it is a huge honour to be involved with the Olympic Games once again. Fiji is one of the few teams in the world who could pull off another win despite recent form.

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“There has been a slight shift in context surrounding rugby in Fiji with the creation of the Drua Super Rugby side and a lot of talent and resource has gone into making the 15-a-side team as competitive as possible.

“I went back for the first time since 2021 in October and it is still a country I feel very much in love with. My family lived there for four-and-a-half years and I understand what sevens rugby means to the people in the country.”

Baber is working alongside Osea Kolinisau, the gold medal-winning captain from the 2016 Rio Olympics, who took over as head coach four months ago. Their collaboration aims to inspire another successful run, with Fiji seeking to replicate their historic achievement from eight years ago when they won their first Olympic gold medal.

Baber’s experience and Kolinisau’s leadership are seen as key factors in Fiji’s quest to maintain their dominance in rugby sevens on the world stage.

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“The French beat Fiji in Madrid by one try and there is no doubt they have the capacity to compete for a medal,” said Baber.

“We’ve been seeking consistency in our performances and there are four gold medal winners in the squad. I think we can do some good things.”

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J
JW 31 minutes ago
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Yeah nar, but that’s kinda the thing, I don’t think the old approach was working either!


You might have it right though, leading up, in all rugby/competitions mean, to the last WC it did feel like there had been better discipline/less than the normal amount of cards. Well, at least a certain demographic of teams improved at least, but not so much NZ ones is my point.


I bet you also think going harsher would be the best way to go reducing head contact and the frequency of concussions?


I would hate to have your theory tested as it requires subjective thinking from the officials but..

AI Overview

In Super Rugby Pacific, a red card means the player is sent off for the rest of the match, but with a 20-minute red card, the team can replace the player after 20 minutes of playing with 14 men. If the foul play is deemed deliberate and with a high degree of danger, a full red card is issued, and the player cannot be replaced. A second yellow card also results in a 20-minute red card with a replacement allowed. 

is there to stop that from happening. The whole subjective thing is why we have 20min cards, and I worry that the same leniency that stopped them from red carding a player who ran 30 meters and still didn’t get his head low enough would stop them straight redn them too.


Back to the real topic though, right after that WC we saw those same angles getting red carded all over the show. So do some players actually have control over their actions enough to avoid head collisions (and didn’t gaf after the WC?), or was it pure luck or an imaginary period of good discipline?


So without a crystal ball to know the truth of it I think you’ll find it an immeasurably better product with 20m red cards, there just does not appear to be any appropriate amount of discipline added to the back end, the suspensions (likely controlled by WR), yet.

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