Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Fiji's major gamble on Semi Radradra

(Photo by INPHO via EPCR)

Gareth Baber, the gold medal winning Fiji Sevens coach, has revealed he took a major gamble by picking Bristol’s Semi Radradra, knowing the centre would struggle to reach the fitness levels needed for the Olympic Games in Japan but was confident his experience would be vital in their bid to defend the title on in Rio in 2016.

ADVERTISEMENT

Many were surprised that Radradra did not feature in the final which saw Fiji repeat their gold medal triumph by defeating New Zealand 27-12. Although Radradra did not get much game time during the rugby 7s competition, he scored a decisive try against Argentina in the 26-14 semi-final victory.

Radradra was selected despite not having taken part in any of the pre-Games training camps due to Bristol’s Gallagher Premiership campaign which saw them knocked out in the semi-finals. Radradra then worked with the club’s fitness team to try and get himself up to speed for the Games event and flew separately to Japan to link up with Baber and the other squad members.

Video Spacer

RugbyPass OFFLOAD | Episode 41 | The third test showdown, the dark arts and the death of rugby

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 49:54
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 49:54
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
    • en (Main), selected
    Video Spacer

    RugbyPass OFFLOAD | Episode 41 | The third test showdown, the dark arts and the death of rugby

    As he reflected on the gold medal triumph, Baber told Fiji Times the selection of Radradra was important despite knowing he was off the pace of the other players. “I knew Semi wasn’t at the fitness levels as that of the other boys and there was no way he could get to that,” said Baber.

    “I knew having worked with him previously that there will be two or three key areas he could bring higher-level quality of skills to our team, but not only to himself but lead others in that direction.

    “I also knew that off the field we still needed strong leadership in the group to be able to bear the stress of a place like Tokyo with the COVID-19 restrictions in games village experience.

    “Somebody like Semi has been there and done that and he can still do it.In terms of our culture and how we travelled through the days and the rhythm that we had, he was there.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    “So I think that there was always a gamble in that position and we trusted him.”

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Watch now: Lomu - The Lost Tapes

    New Zealand vs Australia: Behind the Scenes with the Black Ferns Sevens Team | HSBC SVNS Embedded | E06

    O2 Inside Line: This Rose | Episode 1

    Argentina v Australia | HSBC SVNS Perth 2025 | Men's Final Match Highlights

    New Zealand v Australia | HSBC SVNS Perth 2025 | Women's Final Match Highlights

    The Dupont Ploy: How France went from underdogs to Olympic gods | The Report

    Former rugby player is truly an NFL superstar | Walk the Talk | Jordan Mailata

    Boks Office | Episode 33 | Dupont's Toulouse Too Good

    Trending on RugbyPass

    Comments

    0 Comments
    Be the first to comment...

    Join free and tell us what you really think!

    Sign up for free
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Latest Features

    Comments on RugbyPass

    LONG READ
    LONG READ What trends you should be looking out for in this year's Six Nations What trends you should be looking out for in this year's Six Nations
    Search