To be in a situation where you do not have many first five eighths is a challenge, says interim Vodafone Flying Fijians coach, Gareth Baber.

Despite their 43-13 win over Spain last Sunday, there are still areas to work on for the Number 10 role.

Ben Volavola, who was at 10 last week, missed three conversions from the seven tries scored.

There are other kickers like Setareki Tuicuvu and Vilimoni Botitu but the duo are not regular kickers for their respective clubs.

“Ben has not played recent dates for his club, he sorts of match practice. They understand what people see in relation to the situation on the weekend,” Baber said in a zoom interview on Tuesday.

“But you know that’s one of the challenges we have as a group – to not have more tens to look at, to utilise for kicking but we have Ben who will certainly be in there for selection for that.

“Take all that into account but there are other areas of his game that we were pleased with – obviously, he’s standing within the group, and the way that he plays the game and constructs our attack is hugely important to us.

“And the kicking element is one part of that – it’s very visual when you see somebody miss touch or miss the bumps.

“But obviously he’s working on that to get him to where he needs to be going into game on the weekend.”

Botitu was covering at first five eighth in the game against Spain while Tuicuvu was covering at halfback.

And with the inclusion of star halfback, Frank Lomani, Baber indicated he could play at first five eighth.

“Obviously with Frank Lomani coming back in the squad now, we have two nines, potentially it could move to 10 if we need to.

“I know that he has an ability to play multiple positions in a backline and 10 is probably one of those as well.

“A good skilled player has a good kicking game. You know and it’s knowledgeable in terms of the game and how you manage the game around the field.

“So we’ve got a few more options but we were tight last week.  It’s one of the challenges we have at this point in time with the situation.

“But it doesn’t deter us from what we’re doing. We’re focused on producing results on the weekend and you know, the boys actually don’t really see it.”

Feedback:  sereana.salalo@fijisun.com.fj