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Fiji 7s eyeing up next two future stars
By Alex Shaw
After winning the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series this year, guaranteeing that they will be at Tokyo 2020 to defend their Olympic title, Fiji 7s have had a productive year.
In addition to winning five of the 10 legs on the series, four of Fiji’s players went on to make the HSBC Dream Team, including team talisman Jerry Tuwai and the ever-dangerous Aminiasi Tuimaba.
Meli Derenalagi also made the team, as well as picking up the Rookie of the Year award, whilst Vilimoni Botitu, the DHL Impact Player of the Year, was the fourth member of the Dream Team. Both Derenalagi and Botitu were in their first seasons with the group.
RugbyPass understand that the next two players to follow in the footsteps Derenalagi and Botitu could be recent World Rugby U20 Championship stars Osea Waqa and Simione Kuruvoli.
Like Derenalagi and Botitu, who starred in the U20 Trophy in 2018, Waqa and Kuruvoli are being eyed up for swift moves over the seven-a-side format, to further strengthen the group ahead of the Olympics next year.
Waqa shone out in Argentina over the last month, as his incisive running and eye for space helped Fiji hurt teams on the counter-attack and allowed them to stay in games, even if they weren’t getting the platform up front that they needed.
The full-back was among the standout performers of any side in the tournament, with his creative display against Scotland in the match that saw Fiji avoid relegation one of, if not the best individual performance at the Championship.
Kuruvoli meanwhile is a versatile scrum-half who can also step in at fly-half if needed and Gareth Baber, Fiji 7s head coach, could well be looking at him as a developmental prospect that, if it clicks for the youngster, could become a sevens player in the mould of Tuwai.
Player retention is always a challenge for Fiji 7s, given the money on offer for players in Europe, and with Mesulame Kunavalu having left the group to join Edinburgh this month, there is at least one opening in the squad.
Watch: Fiji created history in Hong Kong this year
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Even with absences we still had the cattle to make the playoffs. As it was, we nearly stumbled our way into the top 8. Which shows just how easy it was to get there. And still we failed. As for Razor, there are many instances of him patching up the Crusaders roster. Numerous. Several players I'd never heard of. Also, using AB legend John Afoa was a classic.
But, some of the games we were losing were from schoolboy errors, or downright confusion. Either the players were really dumb (they weren’t) or they were poorly coached. Given the repetitive nature of errors, brain fades, poor decision making, & loose structures, this all lands with the coaching group.
With only six playoff spots now in SR, & Aussie franchises now consolidated to four, 2025 looks like a tight one. I'm picking we'll have to tough it out under Penney & hope for the best.
Go to commentsAgree we need a 10, 12, 13 refresh. ASAP. Well, next season now lol. Reiko should be put back on the wing. He'll be an absolute menace there. Imagine 11 Reiko 14 Clarke 15 Jordan as the backfield unit.
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