Sevens Warning

The Ben Gollings coached- Fiji Airways Fijian men’s sevens team is in for a tough open­er in this weekend’s Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town, South Africa.

Barring any upset in the pre-Round of 16, the Fijians are billed to take on 2009 World Cup Sevens winners, Wales, in their opening match on Friday.

Wales has been drawn against Ko­rea in the pre-Round of 16 fixtures with the winner taking on Fiji.

Wales has a proud Rugby World Cup Sevens history having defied all the odds to win the title in 2009, with current head coach Richie Pugh a member of the triumphant team.

Wales sevens captain Luke Tre­harne told World Rugby Media,that Wales would get another chance to shine at the World Cup.

“We played them (Fiji) in the first game in Los Angeles as well,” Tre­harne said.

“We had a good game against them (Fiji) in the Commonwealth Games (a 38-24 defeat) and managed to score quite a few tries against them, I think bar South Africa in the final, we scored the most points against them.

“They (Fiji) are a really fun team to play against, they really chal­lenge you in terms of how they play, which is very different to a lot of other teams.

“But it always seems to be a chal­lenge we get up for and play some of our best rugby.

“I love hearing about it to be hon­est,” he said.

“It is one of the main things that gets pulled up about Wales Sevens as it is the highest level tourna­ment we’ve won. I just like that Wales have won it and it is some­thing to aim towards, knowing that it can be done.”

Treharne experienced the Rugby World Cup Sevens at first-hand in San Francisco in 2018 and is confi­dent that Cape Town will be just as amazing

“Playing in the World Cup is in­credible. Like with the San Fran­cisco tournament, they are often somewhere a little bit different.

“When that’s the case you always have a little bit of concern about what the set up and the facilities are going to be like but the San Fran (cisco) tournament was incredible, playing in a baseball stadium was really, really cool.

“I am fully aware that coming to Cape Town, it (South Africa) is a country that is mad about rugby and any time I’ve played in a World Series tournament there, it has been incredible, and with it being a World Cup.”

New format

On the Rugby World Cup Sevens format, Treharne said: “At a World Cup, you need to be firing in every game, there are no second chances like in other tournaments with a group stage format.

“You need to win every single game to win the World Cup, and with sevens anything can go right or wrong with a bounce of the ball, or one missed tackle or a wrong de­cision.

“It could favour an underdog, a team with not a lot of pressure on them.”

Feedback: leonec@fijisun.com.fj