It was another disappointing Cup quarterfinal exit for our Fiji Women’s rugby sevens team (Fijiana 7s) at the HSBC SVNS Series in Perth, West ern Australia.
On Saturday night, the Ana Maria Naimasi captained-side went down 14-12 to Ireland pushing them out of a top four finish.
This has been the story of their campaign.
Last December, in Dubai, they went down 38-14 to France in the Cup quarters and again 19-17 to the same team in the Cape Town tournament in South Africa.
Laced with seasoned campaigners like Reijeli Daveua, Reapi llunisau, Lavena Cavuru, Aloesi Nakoci, Viniana Riwai and so on, the side has yet to find their mojo.
These senior players must stand up and take responsibility of their game as the coaches have done their part.
From the onset, they have no problems in containing minnows like Spain, Brazil and Japan but when it comes to the big guns of New Zealand, France and Australia they tend to fall apart.
And when it’s Ireland, USA or Canada it’s a 50/50 chance- this should not be happening.
The big challenge for our women is to break the Cup quarterfinal barrier at the next tournament, which is the Vancouver Sevens in Canada from February 23-25 followed by the Los Angeles Sevens on March 2-3 in the United States of America.
The Fijians must finish in the top four in these tournaments to boost the players’ confidence as they head towards the Paris Olympic Games in France from July 26 to August 11.
It’s all about going to the next level and making it happen for Fiji.
Our women have proved that they have got what it takes to win gold at the Olympics.
They came close at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and had to settle with the bronze medal.
For now it’s all about taking things one at a time.
First, the players must get it into their system that the Cup quarterfinal finish is not the place to be and it’s time to make it to the Cup semifinal or the Cup final.
It’s going to be tough but it will surely pay off at the end of the day.
Feedback: leonec@fijisun.com.fj