Fiji hit hard by loss of key players
Sevens series leaders will have to make do without Daunivucu and Dranivasa
Fiji will not only have to bounce back from the crushing disappointment of losing the Hong Kong Sevens to England in the final seconds, but will also have to make do with the loss of two key players as the Standard Chartered Singapore Sevens, the sixth leg of the IRB Sevens Series, gets underway this weekend.
With England having the momentum, Fiji's campaign has been severely undermined by the suspension of captain Jone Daunivucu, who has been cited for biting, and the loss of the outstanding Epeli Dranivasa with a broken arm. Both incidents happened during the Cup final in Hong Kong last Sunday.
'Of course we will miss both of them. But we have got two able replacements in Norman Ligairi and Sireli Naqelevuki,' said player-coach Waisale Serevi yesterday. 'In the absence of Jone, Semisi Naevo captains the side. He is a chief back home and the boys will listen to him. Gigantic forward Semisi will have to the lead from the front as Fiji attempt to extend their slender lead at the top of the IRB Sevens standings. England cut the deficit to a mere six points with their 26-24 victory last weekend.
Ben Gollings's last-gasp try and conversion was not only a morale-crushing blow for the Fijians, but they received further bad news after the game when the tournament's citing officer, Ross Mitchell of Hong Kong, handed the Fijian captain a three-month ban.
'He was blatantly seen biting England winger Tom Varndell on his hand. Even the Fijian manager couldn't deny that the punishment was warranted, in fact he was very angry with his player,' said Beth Coalter, IRB Sevens manager.
Serevi refused to be downcast by the loss of his inspirational captain, one of the leading try-scorers this season. Yesterday he was looking forward to plotting the downfall of England on Sunday.
'The Hong Kong Sevens is over. Yes, we were very disappointed to lose, especially because we felt we could have won if not for that first-half sin-binning of Dranivasa during which time England scored two tries. But now we are looking forward to this weekend,' Serevi said.
Asked if, in hindsight, he would have done anything different during those last precious seconds when Fiji had the ball - in his hands - and were leading England 24-19, Serevi replied: 'No. I took what I thought was the best option and passed inside to my forwards instead of giving the ball to [William] Ryder. I expected Jone to kick ahead as the England defence was all up. But he sent out a 50-50 pass and the ball was turned over, which eventually led to Gollings's try.'
But Serevi admitted that his understudy, Ryder, would be used more this weekend. In Hong Kong, Ryder was used sparingly and always started on the bench. In the final, Ryder came on in the last couple of minutes, but made the most of it by scoring with his first touch of the ball. There is speculation that in those dramatic final seconds, England might not have won if Serevi had passed outside to Ryder.
'Singapore will see a lot of Ryder this weekend,' warned Serevi yesterday.
It is a warning that the rest of the opposition will likely heed as Fiji go all out to redeem their disappointment of losing in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, England will field the same side that played in Hong Kong. 'We are all fit and well. What matters most now is to get the side up mentally for the challenge,' said assistant England coach Phil Greening.
SINGAPORE SEVENS POOLS
Pool A: Fiji, Australia, Japan, Singapore. Pool B: England, Samoa, Kenya, South Korea. Pool C: South Africa, Argentina, Scotland, Hong Kong Pool D: New Zealand, France, Canada, China.
