We wanted both, but ended up winning one.
But we should be satisfied with how our Fiji Airways Fijian 7s team finished after the first cluster of the World Sevens Series in Dubai and Cape Town.
Finishing fifth at 7he Sevens and winning at the Cape Town Stadium a week later shows the calibre and quality of the players we have.
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We may have missed tackles, got carded for not playing by the rules, failing to winning and contest- ing kick-offs, but still we ended up scoring the most points in both tournaments.
In Dubai, we scored a total of 201 points with losing Cup finalists United States of America second on 188. In Cape Town we amassed 174 points with Australia second best on 165.
Now third on the points standing with 35 points and losing one out of 12 games in two tournaments is a good platform to launch our attack on the second cluster in the Hamilton-Sydney tournaments next month.
Stats revealed that we fared fantastically well in some disciplines and fell short in some.
But the most positive aspect was how the young players such as Meli Derenalagi, Vilimoni Botitu, Aminiasi Tuimaba and Beniamino Vota fitted well into the 7s system.
No one thought one of these rookies would be named player of the final, but Botitu got the award in just his second tournament.
His running angle and splitting the defence of Werner Kok and Justin Geduld of South Africa in the semifinal and Martin Iosefo and Perry Baker of the USA in the final show, we have the players to pounce if given the chance.
Apart from the hard work put in by Coach Gareth Baber and senior reps in guiding the players, we should also be thankful to the Fiji Rugby Union because some of the players graduated from age-group rugby.
The players had a two-week camp before they dispersed for the festive break on Friday.
The focus is defending the Hamilton Sevens on January 26-27 and crack the code by winning the Sydney 7s for the first time.
We need to win the 2018/2019 World Sevens Series because it will boost our confidence before defending the gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games.
We have strength in depth and players to deliver.
Baber and the players know how important it is to be in the top four to automatically qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
They know how to win tournaments and they proved it in Cape Town.
We bank on them to do it again in 2019.
Feedback: delaibatiki@fijisun.com.fj
