The Gareth Baber coached- Fijian Airways 7s team will be working on improving their de­fence and discipline before the next leg of the 2018/19 HSBC World Sevens Series.

Captain Kalioni Nasoko did not mince his words when he told SUNsports that the Las Vegas and Vancouver tournaments would be extremely tough.

“We’re still in the hunt for the series title,” Nasoko said.

“There are six tournaments remaining and we’ll have to work harder especially in lifting our fitness and be able to win the series.”

The Fijians are currently in third spot with 72 points while USA and New Zealand are tied with 76.

For Las Vegas, they are in Pool D along with arch rivals Australia, Scotland and Wales. The competi­tion is from March 1-3.

“We will take a short break then start our prepara­tion for the next leg. We will see our games from the last two tournaments and work on our mistakes. There are areas to improve on. Again we need to lift our fitness level especially when it’s getting tougher.

Our pool in Las Vegas is a tough one. So we’ll need to tighten our defence and work on our discipline.”

Forward Sevuloni Mocenacagi was red carded against New Zealand in the Cup semi-final loss for a dangerous tackle.

Nasoko praised the performance of rover Filimo­ni Botitu and forward Meli Derenalagi.

“The young players of Botitu and Derenalagi are showing their talents. We believe in each other al­though we have some experienced players as well,” he added.

Also a revelation was new playmaker Terio Tama­ni who was impressive in defence.

Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

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