Tackling errors top of the agenda for Fiji ahead of Hong Kong Sevens

As the Fiji men’s side prepares to pivot into finals mode ahead of the HSBC SNVS World Series Championship kicking off in Hong Kong, there is one focus top of the agenda for head coach Osea Kolinisau: defence.

Despite being the only side in the men’s competition to finish in a poll position across every leg of the regular season, the Fijians’ hopes of topping the ladder were ended by a barnstorming Blitzboks, who won the final three legs in Perth, Vancouver and New York.

Kolinisau believes that tackling errors is the chink in their armour they need to fix ahead of the finals getting underway next month.

“The stats in Dubai and Cape Town showed our missed tackles were way up high,” Kolinisau said, speaking with the Fiji Sun on Wednesday.

“We finished third in both tournaments, but when we came to Perth and Singapore, we won. Our missed tackles were really low in those two tournaments.

“So, when we went to the last leg in Vancouver and New York, our missed tackles were high again.”

Over the upcoming break, Kolinisau will not just be focusing on tightening up Fiji’s defence, but also on technique and communication during defensive blocks of the game, which will also address other issues identified.

“In Vancouver, most [of] our games the boys were over-chasing. We’re not connecting,” Kolinisau explained.

“Especially our one-on-one defence and our tracking, especially in getting our processes right.

“We want to rectify our tackling problem. We want hard tackles, but the important thing is to get the player down. What we want is a complete tackle.

“When we get that right, it’s hard to go through our defence, and that’s something we’re working on, especially [off] our kick-off as well.

“We made a lot of mistakes, like dropped balls. Against Spain, we dropped three balls from the kick-off, and Spain scored three tries in Vancouver.”

Despite these setbacks, Kolinisau expects his side to bounce back well in Hong Kong, believing the pressure of finals will bring out the best of Fiji’s famous style of rugby.

“The boys know what’s at stake,” Kolinisau said.

“The boys have been playing well throughout the season.

“Playing in the championship is a hard task for the boys, especially the way we let go of the last tournament [in New York].

“We’ve learned a lot from that. We know the championship is here, and we know Hong Kong is important.”