Dubai: With Fiji off to a flying start in the IRB World Sevens Series following last weekend's season-opening stage win in Australia's Gold Coast, assistant coach Etuate Waqa hopes for more of the same in Dubai.
Fiji beat New Zealand 26-12 in the Cup Final at Robina, having first lost against the defending series champions in the pool after initial victories over Nuie and Kenya.
Beating Wales 33-5 in the quarter-finals, Fiji then outclassed South Africa in the semis 24-7 before they secured a full 22 points to take first blood in the nine-leg series.
Waqa said: "Last week's win has really boosted our campaign.
"We come in confident after Australia, where the victory has set a great platform for the start of our series. We know we just have to be consistent and try to be smart in our preparation off the field.
"We've set some goals before coming over, where we have a core vision to get back into the top of the rankings in the series.
"A start like that really boosts morale and has installed confidence going forward to complete our aims.
"We are confident of making the finals in Dubai."
Big boost
Speaking of last weekend's injuries to captain Setefano Cakau and Jimilai Naikadawa, Waqa confirmed replacements would come in the form of Aminiasi Nava and Pio Tuwai.
"They are both consistent with the type of rugby we want to play and have good sevens and XVs experience," he said.
"They will be a big boost for our team in Dubai.
"There is a bit of jet lag within the team; it's been 14 hours of travel. We treated the first day as rest and have started back into training. We've brushed that off and are well into preparation.
"We have a long vision building for the Olympics in 2016 but we also look to the short term and that's to get to London at the end of the series at the top of the table."
