Canada 7s: Samoa Wary Of Fiji

Mental preparation is what Samoan rugby 7s coach Sir Gordon Tietjens is working hard on as they prepare to take on the Fiji Airways Fijian 7s team, Kenya and Canada in the pool games of the Canada 7s this weekend.

The Gareth Baber-coached Fijian side are the defending champions but are seeded second to Samoa in Pool B.

Sir Gordon said in the past Samoa had been guilty of lapses of concen­tration at critical moments but a vastly improved defensive showing was a key to their success in Las Ve­gas last weekend.

“Our scrambling (defence) was good,” he told Radio New Zealand.

“Once we got connected in the line we started to make good chop tackles rather than going in for the big hits and it was about just being smarter on defence and not over-committing around rucks.

“That’s one of the areas that we’ve really had to work on because we used to get exposed trying to look to counter-ruck when it certainly wasn’t on.

“Turning all that around of course you make smarter decisions, better decisions and it works for you so our defence was certainly better than it has been.

“Even (in the final) against the States I thought at times we really defended well but they held onto the ball for so many periods and it was really, really hard. In the end something’s got to give and unfor­tunately it was us.”

Samoa have not qualified for the Cup quarterfinals or beyond at con­secutive tournaments since 2016 and Sir Gordon said the challenge for his team now is to back up their performance in Vancouver this weekend.

“Another tough pool: first game (against) Canada in Canada, you know? They always lift themselves for their crowd and of course our game against Canada here (in Las Vegas) was very, very close, it went right down to the wire,” he said.

“And that’s our first game - we’ve got to get off to a good start - and then we’ve got Kenya and Fiji so no easy games but that’s the challenge for us: can we back up in another tournament with a good tourna­ment.”

NACUQU RETURNS HOME

Injured Fijian 7s playmaker Wai­sea Nacuqu is expected into the country today.

This was confirmed by Fiji Rugby Union chief executive officer John O’Connor after Votua, Ba native fractured his collarbone through a dangerous tackle by Australian 7s captain Lewis Holland, who is now serving a three-match ban.

O’Connor said the team have left for Vancouver yesterday and there is no injured player.

“I’m expecting an update from coach Gareth Baber tomorrow,” he said.

Edited by Grace Narayan

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