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Fiji legend Jerry Tuwai raises concerns to new coach ahead of Olympics

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - SEPTEMBER 10: Jerry Tuwai of Fiji celebrate after scoring a try during day 2 of the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 Championship Quarter Finals match 27 between Samoa and Fiji at DHL Stadium on September 10, 2022 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Double Olympic gold medal winner and sevens legend Jerry Tuwai has admitted he is not yet fit enough to bid for a place in Fiji’s sevens squad.

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Tuwai’s relationship with Ben Gollings, the Fiji 7s head coach who was recently sacked, was seen as a major distraction with the former play-maker being told he wasn’t ready to be picked for the HSBC SVNS series events. Now new head coach Osea Kolinisau has confirmed he is monitoring his former teammate’s fitness in the hope he can help defend Fiji’s Olympic gold in Paris this summer.

Kolinisau confirmed to local media that Tuwai, 34, and play-maker Vatemo Ravouvou are back in the Fiji men’s training squad. All three were members of the gold medal-winning team at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil.

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He said: “We had an honest chat and Jerry knows where he is at. Jerry said ‘coach, I’m not there yet and I need a month’. I said come into camp and I will come and monitor your fitness. So Jerry is in camp. It’s good to have Jerry around, the knowledge he has, the only two-time Olympian gold medallist in rugby. It’s good to have him around in terms of leadership and mentor the young players.

“Ravouvou is in camp, he is looking fit and looking forward to see him play in the Marist Sevens. He is always vocal in the game and his kicking as well that’s an area we looking to address. He’s not guaranteed a spot, even though we played together for years.”

Kolinisau has taken charge of the men’s sevens team four months away from the Olympic Games but is confident there is enough time to defend the gold medal in Paris with Fiji having won the gold medal in Rio and Tokyo.

The grand finale of the SVNS series is in Madrid from May 31 to June 2, six weeks before the Paris Games with Fiji currently third in the table behind Argentina and Ireland heading into the famous Hong Kong Sevens on April 5-7.

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“Nothing is impossible, it depends on our preparations – how I prep and what the boys are going to bring in,” he added.

“I have spoken to some of the boys who wanted to come especially the ones overseas, you only have six weeks – it’s on you whether you want it or not, I’ll invite you camp. I’ve told the boys in camp as well, it’s up to you whether you want to show me what it takes. To me I believe Fiji can do it.”

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fl 2 hours ago
‘The problem with this year’s Champions Cup? Too many English clubs’

"Right, so even if they were the 4 worst teams in Champions Cup, you'd still have them back by default?"

I think (i) this would literally never happen, (ii) it technically couldn't quite happen, given at least 1 team would qualify via the challenge cup, so if the actual worst team in the CC qualified it would have to be because they did really well after being knocked down to the challenge cup.

But the 13th-15th teams could qualify and to be fair I didn't think about this as a possibility. I don't think a team should be able to qualify via the Champions Cup if they finish last in their group.


Overall though I like my idea best because my thinking is, each league should get a few qualification spots, and then the rest of the spots should go to the next best teams who have proven an ability to be competitive in the champions cup. The elite French clubs generally make up the bulk of the semi-final spots, but that doesn't (necessarily) mean that the 5th-8th best French clubs would be competitive in a slimmed down champions cup. The CC is always going to be really great competition from the semis onwards, but the issue is that there are some pretty poor showings in the earlier rounds. Reducing the number of teams would help a little bit, but we could improve things further by (i) ensuring that the on-paper "worst" teams in the competition have a track record of performing well in the CC, and (ii) by incentivising teams to prioritise the competition. Teams that have a chance to win the whole thing will always be incentivised to do that, but my system would incentivise teams with no chance of making the final to at least try to win a few group stage matches.


"I'm afraid to say"

Its christmas time; there's no need to be afraid!

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