Radradra, Tuimaba and Botitu have settled in well with the Fiji 7s team
Radradra, Tuimaba and Botitu have settled in well with the Fiji 7s team
Semi Radradra training in Japan. [image: FRU]
Overseas-based players Semi Radradra, Filimoni Botitu and Aminiasi Tuimaba have settled in well with the Fiji Men s 7s team in Japan for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Radradra, Botitu and Tuimaba, played most of their rugby this year with their different clubs.
Botitu and Tuimaba joined the team in Australia for the Oceania 7s last month while Radradra joined the team in Japan.
Coach Gareth Baber says the challenge is getting these players into the 7s mindset.
Tokyo Olympics: Gareth Baber on the pressure and privilege of coaching Fiji
By Mike HensonBBC Sport
Baber (far left) has been Fiji s sevens coach since January 2017
You can t immediately see the similarities, but Gareth Baber feels them.
Llanelli, south Wales. A small town backing on to green hills and a history of heavy industry.
Fiji, South Pacific. An tropical archipelago of palms, white sand and a slower way of life.
Half the globe away, and a world of difference.
But Baber, the Welshman who arrived as Fiji s sevens coach in January 2017, does not feel as far from home as all that.
16 July, 2021, 4:08 pm
Vilimoni Botitu looks for support against Samoa during the first day of the HSBC Hamilton 7 s at New Zealand. Picture: RAMA/FILE
Fijian 7s head coach Gareth Baber has set up a system to get Europe-based Semi Radradra, Aminiasi Tuimaba and Vilimoni Botitu back into ‘sevens mode’ as the team prepares to defend its gold medal status at the Olympic Games later this month.
He said Radradra, Tuimaba and Botitu were healthy and he has held one on one sessions with them, sharing information to get them up to speed with the team’s preparations.
Baber said it would be “a bit of a test and a challenge to get them where they need to be.”
Zanzeer Singh
16 July, 2021, 4:12 pm
Fiji Airways Flying Fijians player Semi Radradra trains at Churchill Park in Lautoka. Picture: REINAL CHAND/FILE
Team Fiji men’s 7s rugby coach Gareth Baber expects Europe players Semi Radradra, Vilimoni Botitu and Aminiasi Tuimaba to make a fast transition into the abbreviated code after spending much of their time playing 15s rugby in the past few seasons.
Baber said everyone was living in a very strange time in the world.
He said Radradra, who was the last to join the squad, was a professional player who had adjusted to the situation well.
“The likes of Semi who came in late recovered from the travel obviously with the change in time as well,” Baber said.
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