Lanky Fiji Airways Fijian 7s forward Isoa Tabu is likely to make the 13-member squad for this weekend’s USA 7s in Las Vegas.

This was after head coach Gareth Baber applauded the effort put in by Tabu during their training ses­sions in Las Vegas and is working on including him in the 13- member squad, which is to be announced to­morrow (Fiji time).

“I’m really pleased with Isoa’s per­formance so far,” he said.

“For three months he has been with us and I’ve seen what he has done. Isoa understood what he needs to do and as a normal Fijian he’s quiet and very respectful but he always get his job done.

“What I particularly like about him is his running ability which I see during training and the impact tackles he makes.

“And all of a sudden if you put them all together you would know what (Meli) Derenalagi, Paula (Dranisinukula) or (Kalione)Nasoko would do and the level of activities that you need to provide the basis for creating pressure on the opponents.

“He is also developing as a lineout forward and in terms of scrums he’s young in that and getting to grips with it.”

Baber said according to former strength and conditioning coach, Naca Cawanibuka he sees Isoa in a similar version of his elder brother Sevuloni (Mocenacagi) when he first joined the 7s team.

“And one more thing I like about Isoa is that he is attentive to details and is working extra hard during training sessions which is one of the factors I have highlighted on his performance. And now we need to see how he will cope with the men­tal pressure of the game.”

Baber said Asaeli Tuivoka has joined camp yesterday afternoon.

“I will certainly look at Sevuloni (who is suspended) but haven’t made up my mind on that yet.

“Looking at our trainings it is al­ways an issue and always have FRU to provide a substitute if need be but I will name our side on Thurs­day (Friday- Fiji time).

Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

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