Fiji Airways men’s rugby sevens team head coach, Osea Kolinisau, has outlined three critical areas they need to focus on in this weekend’s Hong Kong Sevens tournament. These three areas, Kolinisau said, were exposed during the Canada Sevens in Vancouver, where they lost to South Africa 5-7 in the Cup semi-final after they failed to utilise their one-man advantage. These areas are decision making, consistency and defence. “We were a man-up when South Africa got red-carded and we should have finished the game, but it just got away. We started playing as individuals, not as a team,” Kolinisau said of the opening minutes of the semi-final when Fiji was leading 5-0. “We wanted to go through the middle too quickly. We were offloading when we shouldn’t have off-loaded. We weren’t patient enough to finish it off. We were rushing things. It was our decision- making.” He said this was also their downfall in Cape Town and Perth tournaments where they were unable to turn their earlier promising moves into success. “We’ve lost opportunities, games we should have won. We want to be consistent and we haven’t been consistent enough in the way we play. We cannot afford inconsistency in Hong Kong.” However, in his first full season of being in-charge of the team since his appointment in March 2024, Kolinisau is confident that they are heading in the right direction. “We want to give the boys ownership of the team and get them trusting the process we have,” Kolinsau explained. “Get them knowing that they can trust in that process when pressure comes.” A win (Dubai), a third place (Cape Town), a fourth (Vancouver) and a fifth (Perth) place finish is not bad for a team boasting a hefty chunk of exciting yet unproven youngsters. Their defence- a key indicator of the coherence the head coach is focused on- has been impressive. “I’ve always told the boys, you can win games with attack but defence wins you championships,” Kolinisau said. “Fiji is known as a team that can attack and I want us to be known as a team that can defend as well. “That’s something we want to build upon and make sure we get sharper on. We are not there yet. We’re just scratching the surface.” MEN’S FIXTURES Friday- 4.48pm Fiji v USA; 7.58pm Fiji v Ireland; Saturday- 4.11pm Fiji v Argentina WOMEN’S FIXTURES Friday- 4.25pm Fiji v Ireland; 7.35pm Fiji v France; Saturday- 3.25pm Fiji v Great Britain Feedback: leonec@fijisun.com.fj