Vodafone Fijian 7s head coach Gareth Baber has al­ready started plans to build up a team not only for the upcom­ing World Sevens Series and Rugby World Cup 7s but also for the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.

The focus now is not only to build a team for the series but for the fu­ture.

Baber has planned upcoming in­ternational 7s events towards the end of the year before the World Sevens Series starts in December.

The two international 7s tourna­ments will be the Munich 7s in Ger­many in September and the Silicon Valley 7s in the United States.

These tournaments will serve as a testing ground for the new and young players in the squad.

“We will be putting together an ex­tended squad and build a good foun­dation for these players to work on,” Baber said.

“We need to build the strength of the players as there will be new players in the squad and I need to know what I will be working with.

“The team will play in local tour­naments as well as international 7s competitions to give them exposure as well.

“I cannot wait for the series to start at the end of the year so these upcoming events will serve as a platform for the boys to showcase what they got and to give me an idea of what I will be working with.

“The objective I have set is to not only put together a team for tourna­ments that will be happening next year but to build a team for the fu­ture.

“The 7s tournament in Germany and the United States will feature some top teams from the series and they will really put our boys to the test.”

Baber has been following local competitions such as the Skipper Cup and also closely watched the Vodafone Flying Fijians and iden­tified some players who could be a good fit into the 7s team.

“I watched the finals of the Skip­per Cup and have had a look at players on both the Nadroga and Namosi teams and see potential for some players who could be in the 7s team,” he said.

“Players like Vasikali Mudu and Apete Daveta of Nadroga played really well in the final and have shown how accurate they are with the ball and their carry ability.

“There are also players from the Flying Fijians who have peaked my interest, but for them I would need to have discussions with Vodafone Flying Fijians head coach John Mc­Kee.”

Edited by Naisa Koroi

Feedback: justine.mannan@fijisun.com.fj

WORLD SEVENS SERIES 2017-18

1. Dubai: December 1-2, 2017
2. Cape Town: December 9-10
3. Sydney: January 26-28, 2018
4. Hamilton: February 3-4
5. Las Vegas: March 2-4
6. Vancouver: March 10-11
7. Hong Kong: April 6-8
8. Singapore: April 28-29
9. Paris: May 26-27
10. London: June 2-3

COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2018

Gold Coast: April 14-15 (for 7s GAMES ONLY)

RUGBY WORLD CUP SEVENS 2018 2018

San Francisco: July 20-22