Kolinisau eyes new talent at Coral Coast 7s

The Fiji Airways Fiji 7s men’s team is getting the test they needed ahead of the Singapore and Perth 7s. 

They won their opener against Seattle Barbarians 22-7; held to a close win against Police, 7-5 on Friday and lost 19-14 to Nationwide Sydney Nadi in their final pool match yesterday. 

The Sydney Nadi side had the services of former national rep Alosio Naduva. 

Speaking to SUNsports, head coach Osea Kolinisau said the McDonald’s Fiji Coral Coast 7s was always a tough tournament for any team. 

“Teams are giving us the kind of pressure that we want; the Police Blue 7s team defensively, they were very sound,” he said. 

“This is the kind of exposure I want my newcomers to get, and I’m thankful to the teams that have tested us.” 

With international teams from New Zealand, Australia and India, Kolinisau said this was a great platform for grassroots teams to go against international teams. 

“It’s good to see a lot of talent on display. I’ve been enjoying watching the game,” Kolinisau said. 

“A lot of promising talent out there. 

“ I have a few players that I am keeping an eye on and hopefully they are consistent enough.” 

He acknowledged tournament organisers for bringing in a mixture of teams including UsoTasi from the Solomon Islands. 

“Maybe I’ll select one or two, new players out of this tournament. 

“We’ll see as the tournament goes until Saturday; there’s always boys standing up to be selected,” he added. 

When asked about the yellow cards in the last pool game, Kolinisau said: “I wasn’t happy at my boys. We were under pressure, I wasn’t happy because we didn’t play to the standard.” 

The team will now switch their focus to the HSBC Singapore 7s which kicks off on January 31- February 1.