Fiji 7s Head Coach Gareth Baber has rated Olympian Kitione Taliga as one of the standout players of the Uprising 7s tournament over the weekend.

Taliga has been out of the 7s circuit for years and made a comeback for the Fiji 7s side as they walked away with the Uprising title in Pacific Harbour.

The Welshman says Taliga is slowly finding his form and will be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming tournament.

“I thought one of the standout performers was actually Kitione Taliga. It has been a while that we have seen Kiti play like that. He has a little bit of work to do with his fitness and he knows that. He was doing things on the field that Nacuqu does and Vatemo used to do.”

Fiji 7s playmaker Livai Ikanikoda says it was good to see his fellow serviceman back on the field.

“We played together for the police team. We have built our combination from there. After that, we played here in the Fiji 7s team and it is nothing different for the both of us.”

This would mean that the young players in the national squad will need to step up to compete with veterans like Taliga.

Taliga was part of Fiji’s first Olympic gold medal-winning team in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016.