Dubai: Fiji will arrive in Dubai this week with an extra spring in their step following an impressive victory at the Gold Coast Sevens yesterday.

The Fijians claimed the title after defeating New Zealand 26-12 in the final and will go into this weekend's Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens with a great deal of confidence.

The 2005/2006 Sevens World Series champions were in fine form as they swept aside Wales at the quarter-final stage before getting the better of South Africa, beating them 24-7 in the semis to set up a clash with reigning champions New Zealand.

The Kiwi side had booked their spot in the final with a quarter-final win over England and then a 26-7 victory over Australia in the last four.

The young Welsh side, meanwhile, continued the recent success of their 15-a-side counterparts by taking Plate honours, defeating Samoa 26-15 in the final, while Argentina claimed the Bowl with a 17-14 victory over Scotland and Papua New Guinea the Shield by beating Japan 31-19.

"A tournament like this — it's a really big thing for the boys. We needed a platform to start it off with so it's a stepping stone to a summit," said Fiji's assistant coach Etuate Waqa after the final.

"This is very important. We've talked about it — we want to go back to being number one in the world and if we can start it off like this, that sets a platform for us so we can go further along from this and keep building from there."

All eyes are now on Dubai for the second round of the Series at the region's favourite sporting and social event of the year, which starts on Thursday.

The draw

Yesterday's draw saw Fiji drawn against Pacific island rivals Samoa, South Americans Argentina and home side the UAE in Pool A.

Pool B will see New Zealand taking on South Africa, USA and Portugal. Pool C is made up of France, England, Kenya and Zimbabwe while Pool D will see Wales coming up against Australia, Scotland and Canada.

Tickets to catch all the action and entertainment are on sale at www.dubairugby7s.com and from selected Costa and MMI outlets, Virgin Megastores, selected Eppco stations, Emirates headquarters, dnata offices and at The Sevens stadium.

As in previous years, numerous buses will be on duty to transport fans from the stadium back to various convenient locations across Dubai, free of charge.

These locations include: Dubai Media City, Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City (family drop-off points), Barasti, Nezesaussi (Old Town), Irish Village, Chi @ The Lodge and more.

Buses will start from 5pm on Thursday and 6pm on Friday and Saturday and will run on a continuous loop until midnight.

For more information on the tournament, log on to www.dubairugby7s.com.