Mataiasi Stark 
[Source : FILE PHOTO]
Fiji men’s 7s coach Osea Kolinisau says the new-look HSBC SVNS formatis proving brutally demanding, making consistency and defensive disciplinemore important than ever.
His comments followed Fiji’s gritty 26–19 win over France to secure thirdplace in Cape Town this morning.Kolinisau acknowledged Fiji fell short of their target of pushing further intothe tournament, but praised his players for responding under pressure.
“We’re happy with the boys’ performance against France. We’redisappointed… but I’m happy the boys bounced back.”
He described the revamped series structure, where every pool matchcarries knockout-level urgency as unforgiving.
“This format is tough and we try to stay consistent. We weren’t asconsistent as we wanted to be, but I’m happy we came out with thepoints in this last game”.
Kolinisau admitted Argentina exposed Fiji’s errors in their cup quarter-final,but said the team reset quickly to finish strongly.
“Kudos to Argentina, They kept the ball away from us in the first half andwe made a lot of mistakes. We went and talked with the boys about what’simportant. “We wanted to win against France… to stay in touch at the top ofthe table.”
A major focus moving forward, Kolinisau stressed, is defence, an area he has targeted heavily in recent weeks.
Fiji leave Cape Town tied on 32 points with South Africa and New Zealandat the top of the men’s standings after the opening two legs.
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