Ice-cool Kolinisau ready for heated sevens competition
Osea Kolinisau may just be one of the happiest people in rugby sevens. Despite an almost 9,000 mile flight from Fiji to Dubai, the 30-year-old still managed to crack his trademark smile as he arrived for the launch of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
He has a lot to smile about. Fiji arrive at the first round of the series as reigning champions, having finished 10 points ahead of South Africa in the 2014-15 standings. It was mission accomplished for head coach Ben Ryan after his side bagged four Cup wins on the series and qualified for the Olympic Games, with Kolinisau an integral part of his side. But does Kolinisau feel added pressure going into Dubai?
“When you are defending champions, there is always pressure,” he said. “Everybody tries to knock you off your pedestal. Training has been hard in the build up to Dubai as we know it’s always hard to defend a title.
“We have beefed up a lot of our training and most players have put on a bit of weight. We know that a lot of teams are gunning for us and for the series”
With extra bulk and a finely tuned mental game, Fiji will have their work cut out in Dubai with the likes of reigning tournament champions South Africa looking to start the series with victory. They will face Argentina, Canada and Japan in Pool A and Osea is viewing every team as a threat at the series opener.
“All the teams in the series are all a threat,” added Kolinisau. “If they have their day, and it’s going right for them, then it’s theirs to win. Sevens is anybody’s game. You saw last year some of the teams got toppled in pool games and in quarter-finals. You can’t single out a team as a threat as every team is a threat nowadays.”
Following victory in the previous HSBC Sevens Series, Kolinisau managed to get some down time during the summer, playing rugby at his local club – “I got stepped by the local kids” – and spending time with family. But he admits rugby sevens, and the Olympics in particular, were always at the back of his mind in the off season and kept him motivated during the six weeks of no training. With Rio 2016 on the horizon, Kolinisau is excited to see some of the new players coming through the ranks.
“It’s really an exciting season when you have the Olympics in the background,” he said. “Every coach is going to try and play different combinations for the Olympics. We are focusing ourselves on this first tournament in Dubai with a few of our local boys in and Ben said he would give them a chance on this first leg. It’s going to be an exciting and interesting outing because we want to defend the series and get to the Olympics with momentum.
(Source: http://www.worldrugby.org)