Fiji Airways Fijian 7s head coach Gareth Baber applauded the performances of Aminiasi Tuimaba, Meli Derenalagi and Vilimoni Botitu who are likely contenders for the World Rugby 7s rookie of the year.

Speaking to SUNsports via ZOOM interview yesterday, Baber said despite making their debut in 7s rugby this year these players have performed extremely up to their level best.

“I see it as the acknowledgement of these three players as most of them it’s their first time playing in London and Paris 7s and take a lot of pride for the team,” Baber said.

“And these players have been put up there due to their hard work and perseverance. And I just want to put it out to the people that this is the young group of players who have dealt with all the obstacles in their life and continued to work hard as a team.

“Also, even when critics decide to pull them back down they continue to show resilience and the fact that they are in contention of winning the best rookie award speaks volume for itself.

“My expectation is for the team to perform to the best level just as last week. And try to maintain the same standards for every 14 minutes of the game we play and to get the momentum of the players up especially with their physicality.

“Having 14 players fit and healthy is and hard decision to decide the best 13 and their experience, behaviors really matter.  It will be same for this weekend and I will keep in mind what is necessary for the side to win this tournament.”

The Welshman also confirmed Paula Dranisinukula and Seremaia Tuwai are recovering from injury and will be ready to take on the battle in the final leg of the World Sevens Series.

“We are all in a good shape and the London 7s was a tough one and we managed to get through with a lot of injuries where  Dranisinukula and Tuwai are still recovering from injuries as they had been playing all throughout the tournament and played majority of the games,” Baber added

“But we have nursed them this week and making sure they are all set to go for this week. Across all that the boys had trained early this morning.

“The game plan is still the same which is to win the last leg of series and finish on top of the points table. And looking at the three teams in our pool has potential in putting up good performance and our preparation and game plans are quite similar.

“And it’s up to teams to chase us and we are confident in ourselves and getting our game right and dealing with what the opposition has to deliver.

“I can’t really mind what these teams are really up to but looking at their style of play since last season is that they are capable of causing upsets so we gonna ensure that our players are going to treat their pool games as final on day 1.

“Absolutely, we are just down to one tournament and we are vying to win this tournament and finish on top of the points table. And we know that it’s not going to be easy and all we are focused on is to win this final leg and win series.”

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