Australian women’s 7s coach Tim Walsh believes the Telecom Fijiana side will be a force to reckon with in the Women’s Sevens World Series which starts next month.

The Aussies won the Oceania 7s Championship defeating Fiji 31-0 at the ANZ Stadium in Suva last night.

Despite the win, Walsh said it was not an easy final against Fiji as they had to work extra hard.

“The game against Fiji was very physical and entertaining,” Walsh said.

“Watching the Fijians throughout the day, I knew it was going to be a pretty epic battle and the way that they moved the ball around is something that we have to nullify and I thought we did well.

“We kept them scoreless but they made a lot of brakes and a couple of passes that would have stuck would have been a different game.

“They are a great team and they will be a force to be reckoned with in the World Sevens Series.”

Being the new champions of the Oceania 7s, Walsh said it was an honour and privilege to be crowned winners.

“We are really honoured to have won the Oceania 7s, it has been a fantastic tournament and well organised, the field is just impeccable and a really tough finals and I am really proud of how we started the season.”

Meanwhile, Fijiana coach Iliesa Tanivula said playing against Australia has set the bench mark for the Fijians for the upcoming series.

“Australia set the standard in the past series and they have won the Olympics,” Tanivula said.

“It was a pleasure to play them in the last game and they showed their class and congratulations to them.

“For us it is a huge learning curve, they have set the benchmark for us and we need to work past that and over that if we want to stand a chance against them.

“We are looking forward to Dubai this is a good start to the season.

Edited by Osea Bola

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