Fiji 7s

Livai Ikanikoda returns to the team for his first tournament of the season and was expected to bring his signature strength and leadership to the side while Asaeli Tuivuaka has earnt re-selection and hoped to inject more physicality and power into the team.

In the forwards, Kavekini Tabu retains his position after making his debut in Dubai.

Baber also holds high expectations for Sevu Mocenacagi, Josua Vakurunabili and Apenisa Cakaubalavu.

The January tournament leaves little room for error with teams advancing directly from pool play to the semi-finals instead of the traditional quarterfinals.

Fiji have had a disappointing season so far finishing sixth in Cape Town, which leaves them languishing in 8th place overall in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series standings.

But coach Gareth Baber is working on returning them to the form that saw them crowned champions in 2019 when they take on Argentina, Australia and Samoa in pool play in Hamilton.

It was a case of third time lucky for the 30-year-old playmaker, who was also nominated for the award in 2017 and 2018.

Tuwai was a key figure as Fiji won titles in Cape Town, Hamilton, Hong Kong, London and Paris to secure the 2018/19 World Series title, their first since 2016, and was named in the World Series 'Dream Team' for the third year running.

The Olympic gold medallist is the first Fijian player to win the award since Samisoni Viriviri in 2014.

He said Fiji's sevens success is a group effort.

The Fiji Times reported Justice Daniel Goundar stood the matter down as the first witness could not control her emotions when taking the stand.

The 24-year-old complainant was the first to be called to the stand by State lawyer Mezabeen Khan.

Justice Goundar has ordered the complainant to take some time off before the matter is called again.

Nasilasila is alleged to have raped the woman in Sigatoka in December 2018.

The woman had to return from the United States to assist with the trial, which is taking place in Lautoka at the request of the defence.

The Olympic champions relinquished their World Series crown, finishing third behind runaway leaders South Africa and England.

Baber missed the opening two legs of the campaign, after completing his contract with the Hong Kong Rugby Union, before linking up with the team in time for the final round of the Wellington Sevens in January.

The Welshman led Fiji to three finals and one Cup title in his first five events but they failed to make it past the quarter finals in the final rounds.

The Olympic champions relinquished their World Series title last weekend, with South Africa winning the Paris title to open up a massive 34 point lead over nearest rivals England, with one round remaining.

Fiji lost to Samoa in pool play before back to back defeats against Scotland and the United States.

Head coach Gareth Baber said they let themselves down.

"We felt we didn't play to the performance standards that we set previously. We wanted to make up for some of that but what was good about Paris was the introduction of four new faces as well,"he said.

The Olympic gold medalist played league in Fiji until 17 years of age, before switching to rugby union six years ago.

He debuted for the Fijian sevens side last season and was part of their gold medal winning team in Rio.

The 23 year old arrived in Canberra on Sunday and trained with his new teammates for the first time.

"There's so many good players here and I'm going to be able to learn a lot off them," he said.

Raiders Recruitment and High Performance Manager Peter Mulholland was excited at the talent and potential of Dakuwaqa.

After the highs of winning in Hong Kong, Fiji were upset 24-19 by the United States in the Cup quarter finals in Singapore before series leaders South Africa prevailed 19-14 in their fifth place semi final encounter.

"We've just got to learn to be a little bit more consistent," said Baber.

"We came up against a good American side in the quarter final and they reacted far better than we did and in the South Africa game going down to six men hurt us badly.

World Rugby brought in a tougher approach to dangerous tackling this year, with zero tolerance for reckless or accidental tackles that make contact with a players head.

Head coach Gareth Baber said last month the players would have to make adjustments to their tackling technique, to ensure they keep seven players on the field.

Two tournaments on he said it was still a work in progress.

The 19-12 result meant the Fijians missed out on winning the US tournament for a third consecutive year.

Fiji hit the lead first through a typically aggressive try from Masivesi Dakuwaqa, who forced a turnover before stretching out to score.

However, a few minutes later the Blitz Bokke speedster Cecil Afrika scored under the posts which along with the easy conversion, led to a 7-5 half time score in favour of the South Africans.