A morning training session at the old Hong Kong Stadium is the perfect way to prepare for the weekend’s HSBC SVNS World Championship opener. If you are Fijian. 

“A lot of the new boys, you could see it in their faces, were thinking, ‘Oh, this is where all those guys played’,” Fiji head coach Osea Kolinisau said on Tuesday afternoon after revisiting the host arena of the city’s iconic sevens tournament from 1982-2024. 

“The legends, the players before us that set the platform and that we grew up watching played here. Just walking in you could feel the history coming flooding back. Everyone wants to win in Hong Kong because our legends played and won here.” 

Those legends include Kolinisau himself. A proud former captain, he has plenty of inspirational experiences to call upon as he looks to lead his charges to a record-extending 20th tournament win for Fiji’s men in the sport’s spiritual home. 

“Best memory as a player? I think winning in 2009 after 10 years without Fiji winning in Hong Kong,” Kolinisau said. “And scoring three tries in the final in 2013. We were playing Wales and we were down 19-0 and I came on in the second half and scored three tries and we won (26-19). Crazy.” 

‘Defence is going to be huge this weekend’

Such success has helped create a virtuous circle, with an expectant nation tuning in annually. 

“Hong Kong is always big for Fiji,” Kolinisau confirmed. “It was the first tournament we won as a nation and most of them will sit down and watch. We feel that support.”

Not that it has only been smiles and success in Asia’s World City. Runners-up in 2022 and 2023, Fiji have not lifted the Hong Kong crown for seven years now. 

“We just have to get our systems right and make sure we are connected on the field and off the field,” Kolinisau said of the 2026 gameplan. “To me, defence is going to be huge this weekend. If we can be good at defending, attacking is not a problem for us.” 

‘Let’s be consistent in winning’

In short, Fiji need to do what they have been doing almost all season. Victors in Singapore, runners-up in Perth and New York City, the Pacific Islanders have yet to finish off the podium this season. 

In the end, only a painful 10-7 defeat to South Africa in the final in New York last month prevented them from finishing top of the HSBC SVNS league table. 

“I’m proud of the consistency — we’ve become the most consistent team in the series,” Kolinisau said. “I told the boys, ‘You want to be consistent, let’s be consistent in winning’. 

“It’s a process, we are on a good trajectory towards the Olympics in 2028.” 

Key to this success has been staying connected and true to what Kolinisau, captain when Fiji secured a historic first Olympic men’s sevens gold in 2016, sees as the Fijian way. 

“We have our values, we have our cultures and standards,” the 40-year-old said. “I’ve told the boys you’ve got to win as an individual before we win as a whole. I think that’s something we’ve got right. We’re more connected. Everybody is moving together.” 

‘We cut off the sugar’

The sort of details Kolinisau urges his charges to focus on include time keeping, stretching and even sugar intake. 

“We don’t want to have a lot of sugar through the week, if we take a lot of sugar in the week, like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, then when it comes to the weekend we have high sugar spikes that then drop,” the head coach explained. 

“So, what we want to do is make sure we cut off the sugar, the sweet things, in the week and then we have it on Thursday because our bodies are going to use it at the weekend. 

“A lot of the boys are big on sweet things and they find it hard but we talk about being number one and that’s something you’ve got to sacrifice.”

His squad appear to have agreed and put down the cakes. A sprinkling of debutants have made their mark through the season, while Kolinisau name-checks Nacani Boginisoko and Douglas Daveta as two players who have “really grown into their roles in the team”. 

‘A debut in Hong Kong…’

And now, in time for arguably their biggest tournament of the season, Kolinisau has called up another debutant, in a story which underlines everything the head coach wants his team to represent. 

“He just showed up out of nowhere, he was the top try scorer in the Coral Coast (a famous annual sevens tournament featuring local club and international teams),” Kolinisau said of 24-year-old Tomasi Stark. 

“It’s his first time abroad and I was telling him, ‘Man, your debut in Hong Kong… it’s huge’.” 

Should Stark help secure his nation a 20th win in the city, not to mention a giant step towards the HSBC SVNS World Championship title, he may just become another Fijian Hong Kong sevens legend.