Fiji Airways National Men's 7s Head Coach Gareth Baber

Fiji Airways National Men’s 7s Head Coach Gareth Baber is wary of the fitness level of players and the risk of detraining amid this pandemic.

As Baber prepares to map out a plan for the HSBC Sevens Series in September and the Olympic Games next year, players have been instructed to continue with the training programs.

Baber says putting players in a training environment can test the level of fitness they are at.

“The truth is they will be in nowhere near playing in a tournament at the moment. Testing them fitness wise is very difficult because I do not have excess to them, it is only when we test and put them in a training environment that we will have to find out how much work we are going to do.”

Given that the team has been away from training for more than 10 weeks, Baber says it will take at least 6 months for players to be at the level they once were at.