Fiji preparation for Hamilton 7s underway in Navua

Fiji has had its first hit out in preparation for the Hamilton 7s, training in Navua this week.

The January tournament leaves little room for error with teams advancing directly from pool play to the semi-finals instead of the traditional quarterfinals.

Fiji have had a disappointing season so far finishing sixth in Cape Town, which leaves them languishing in 8th place overall in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series standings.

But coach Gareth Baber is working on returning them to the form that saw them crowned champions in 2019 when they take on Argentina, Australia and Samoa in pool play in Hamilton.

"We have always had a plan of how the training would look like through this block. We move on in terms of the conditioning elements that the players need. They are getting used to more shorter sharper movements on the field rather than the long fitness sessions that they have done.

"That is the necessity as you come towards a tournament like Hamilton and Sydney with two weeks of turnaround. There always has to be a balance between what you need to do and what is overkill," he said.

Meanwhile, the Fiji women's side is pooled with hosts New Zealand, England and an invitational Chinese side.