Fiji blood young talent for Singapore

Fiji’s captain Waisale Serevi celebrates with his son after Fiji beat New Zealand 29-19 to win the World Cup Sevens final in Hong Kong last month. Picture / Reuters

Fiji are full of confidence going into the Singapore sevens rugby tournament this weekend after their spectacular World Cup victory in Hong Kong last month.

Captain-coach Waisale Serevi, who led the team to the 29-19 win over New Zealand in the World Cup final, said that even with a few younger players in the squad for this event, Fiji would be tough to beat.

"We are not here with the full World Cup squad but with young players like 22-year-old William Ryder. [But] I am confident that Fiji will be in title contention [tomorrow]," Serevi said.

"Our first task is to beat France in our opening game [today].

Fiji are now second behind New Zealand in the IRB Sevens series.

New Zealand are looking to gain some revenge in Singapore, although coach Gordon Tietjens said winning could not be taken for granted.

"Any of six or seven teams are capable of winning the title. We were knocked out pretty early last year and if you look at the number of games being decided in the final 30 or 40 seconds, you get a clear idea of how closely fought these games are."

The 16 teams this weekend have been divided into four groups, with all pool matches today and knockout games tomorrow.

Singapore 7s

Pool A: New Zealand, Australia, Chinese Taipei, Singapore.

Pool B: England, Scotland, Kenya, Hong Kong.

Pool C: Fiji, South Africa, France, Thailand.

Pool D: Argentina, Samoa, Canada, China.

The top 4

New Zealand 72

Fiji 52

Argentina 50

England 48

- NZPA