“It has been life-changing since winning the gold medal in Rio,” admitted Kolinisau, who has joined Twitter ahead of the series opener this weekend.
“There have been a lot more photos now and you get invited to all sorts of places to be chief guest or just to try and inspire children in school.
“The change has mainly been in the mindset of parents. It used to be that not many let their young girls play rugby because they’d say ‘it’s a man dominated sport’ or ‘women shouldn’t be playing rugby’ but now I am seeing a lot of changes with parents willing to let them play, to learn, and maybe with a chance to go the Olympics.”
Following Ben Ryan’s departure as coach, all eyes will be on Fiji to see how the gold medallists go in defending their Dubai title this weekend. But with a recent success at the Oceania Rugby Sevens, it bodes well for the Fijians as they start to prepare for Tokyo 2020.
“We had some new players at the Oceania Sevens and have two debutants in Dubai, but there is a core from Ben’s development – he used a lot of players from his time in Fiji. There is a lot to work for in the next four years and I know the new coach will have his hands full.
“But life is all about changes, and now we start with the new series and we have to readjust to the series, starting in Dubai.”