Fijian 7s Co-captains back each other ahead the Hamilton tournament

Fiji Airways Fijian 7s star half-back Jerry Tuwai has backed his co-captain Meli Derenalagi to lead the side as they gear up for the Hamilton tournament on Saturday and Sunday in New Zealand.

Tuwai said “For this leg, I told Meli {Derenalagi} to lead. I will just see and direct him on what needs to be done during the tournament.”

“He is very dedicated to training and has always put up his best performance in the tournaments.

I can see he is a good leader and a better product for future” he said.

For Derenalagi it’s a dream come true.

The 21-year-old Nadi lad said he is blessed to have some of the World’s best 7s players around him.

Derenalagi said “It’s a big challenge for me but I thank the experienced players who will be by my side and help me in leading the team”.

He added “We have trained hard and need to have the right mind-set to achieve the goal we have aimed for.”

Meanwhile, Jerry Tuwai gave a mixed reaction to the new format that will be used in Hamilton 7s over the weekend.

In the new format, a team each from the four pools will qualify to the semi-finals rather than playing quarterfinals as it used to be.

“I think through players perspective, the new format is good because we have less game time, meaning a lot more recovery.

But looking it as a team, I think it’s unfair to some of the teams because there is only one team qualifying from the pools” he said.

He added the equation for them to qualify from their pool is simple.

Tuwai said “We have tough and very developed teams like Argentina, Samoa and Australia.

“We will always take one game at a time and try to qualify for semi-final by winning all the matches” he added

Fiji Airways Fijian 7s meet Samoa in their opening match at 12.47pm on Saturday then face Australia at 6.35pm and battles Argentina at 11.57am on Sunday.

The Hamilton 7s will be played on this Saturday and Sunday at the FMG Stadium in New Zealand.