Five players from the Fiji Airways Drua side that played in the Australian National Rugby Championship will be included into the Fiji Airways Fijian 7s training squad.

This was confirmed yesterday by Fijian 7s head coach Gareth Baber who also indicated that the name of the players would be released by the Fiji Rugby Union.

Baber said he had showed his interest in these players before the Drua squad was picked for the NRC.

“There will be five joining us this week,” he said.

“I will be looking forward to seeing these players and what their makeup is. They played well in the NRC and I’m looking forward to seeing them mix with the boys but there is no guarantee just because they have been called in to the training group. It is an opportunity for me to see them and see how they can conduct themselves in the training environment alongside seasoned sevens internationals and some young players who have pushed their case this summer.”

Baber highlighted two of the five Drua players were currently injured but would be monitored during their camp.

“I need to ensure those injuries are managed and the players are following the right rehabilitation programmes.”

Baber also revealed that five players in the training squad were still nursing their injuries but would be re-joining their training sessions later in the week. He confirmed that utility Sevuloni Mocenacagi would be out for a longer period due to a torn calf muscle injury.

He indicated that speedsters Banuve Tabakaucoro and Uluniyata Batinisavu had slim chances of making it in to the squad of the first leg of the 2017/18 World Sevens Series tournaments in Dubai and Cape Town,  South Africa.

Tabakaucoro is currently out with a shoulder injury while Uluniyata has played in three tournaments. He has been okay, but there are some areas of his game that he needs to work on and I will be working on that with him,” he said.

 Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

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