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Gollings gives Fiji players 'shake-up' and removes captaincy

Fiji won Olympic Gold in Tokyo and the finance it brought to World Rugby was desperately needed (Pic - Bruty/Getty Images)

Fiji Sevens coach Ben Gollings has drafted in four new players and taken the captaincy off Waisea Nacuqu in a bid to gain automatic qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

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Fiji are fifth in the table one point behind France with the top four guaranteed Olympic participation and they now head to the Los Angeles (February 25-26) and Vancouver (March 3-5) legs of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens series.

As the double Olympic Games sevens gold medallists after winning in Rio and Tokyo, the pressure is on Gollings and Fiji to repeat that success. The four new players are the Army duo, Anasa Qaranivalu and Rokoua Rasaku, Police forward Alusio Vakadranu and utility Ponipate Loganimasi.

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Gollings told the FijiSun:“We needed a little bit of shake-up and bringing new energy into the squad, something we have been looking to do for a number of weeks and the Coral Coast and Nawaka 7s gave us that opportunity to see them coming to light.

“Young Rasaku who has been on form locally is a strong player and of a different dynamic to some of our players, Ponipate has been brilliant and is someone we had our eye for a while. This is also an opportunity for Anasa, he has been playing well in the Skipper Cup and for the Army 7s team and will add more firepower to our forward pack than we have Alusio, who deserves a sport as he has been playing consistently well for Police.”

The forwards join Josua Vakurinabili, Jeremaia Matana and Tevita Dugunu while Jerry Tuwai, Waisea Nacuqu, Manueli Maisamoa and Iowane Teba spearhead the backs with, Vuiviawa Naduvalo, Sevuloni Mocenacagi and Alasio Naduva missing out.

Gollings added “It’s not necessarily dropping Waisea Nacuqu from the captain but I just wanted to free up him a little bit of airspace so that he could just focus on himself. We will pick on form and character plus it is important players know that there is that level of competition which is going to keep them on their toes so we want players to keep pushing themselves and set the standards that we want in the team.”

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In Los Angeles, Fiji are pooled with Australia, Kenya and Japan who are all lower then the Islands team in the standing.

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S
SK 34 minutes ago
What is the future of rugby in 2025?

Set pieces are important and the way teams use them is a great indication of how they play the game. No team is showcasing their revolution more than the Springboks. This year they have mauled less and primarily in the attacking third. Otherwise they have tended to set like they are going to maul and then play around the corner or shove the ball out the back. They arent also hitting the crash ball carrier constantly but instead they are choosing to use their width or a big carrying forward in wider areas. While their maul is varied the scrum is still a blunt instrument winning penalties before the backs have a go. Some teams have chosen to blunt their set piece game for more control. The All Blacks are kicking more penalties and are using their powerful scrum as an attacking tool choosing that set piece as an attacking weapon. Their willingness to maul more and in different positions is also becoming more prominent. The French continue to play conservative rugby off the set piece using their big bruisers frequently. The set piece is used differently by different teams. Different teams play different ways and can be successful regardless. They can win games with little territory and possession or smash teams with plenty of both. The game of rugby is for all types and sizes and thats true in the modern era. I hope that administrators keep it that way and dont go further towards a Rugby League style situation. Some administrators are of the opinion that rugby is too slow and needs to be sped up. Why not rather empower teams to choose how they want to play and create a framework that favours neither size nor agility. That favours neither slow tempo play or rock n roll rugby. Create a game that favour both and challenge teams to execute their plans. If World Rugby can create a game like that then it will be the ultimate winner.

34 Go to comments
J
JW 5 hours ago
'Let's not sugarcoat it': Former All Black's urgent call to protect eligibility rules

Yep, no one knows what will happen. Thing is I think (this is me arguing a point here not a random debate with this one) they're better off trialing it now in a controlled environment than waiting to open it up in a knee jerk style reaction to a crumbling organtization and team. They can always stop it again.


The principle idea is that why would players leave just because the door is ajar?


BBBR decides to go but is not good enough to retain the jersey after doing it. NZ no longer need to do what I suggest by paying him to get back upto speed. That is solely a concept of a body that needs to do what I call pick and stick wth players. NZR can't hold onto everyone so they have to choose their BBBRs and if that player comes back from a sabbatical under par it's a priority to get him upto speed as fast as possible because half of his competition has been let go overseas because they can't hold onto them all. Changing eligibility removes that dilemma, if a BBBR isn't playing well you can be assured that someone else is (well the idea is that you can be more assured than if you only selected from domestic players).


So if someone decides they want to go overseas, they better do it with an org than is going to help improve them, otherwise theyre still basically as ineligible as if they would have been scorning a NZ Super side that would have given them the best chance to be an All Black.

147 Go to comments
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