Lanky national 7s forward Pio Tuwai has been ruled out of the Wellington 7s next weekend because of injury.

The Fiji Rugby Union said the likely replacement will be Viliame Mata.

FRU is in the process of arranging Mata’s travel documents and he is expected to join the team later this week.

Meanwhile, National 7s coach Ben Ryan is confident that Fiji will find their form in Wellington.

Despite the disappointing performance in Las Vegas, Ryan said he was happy with the way the players lifted their performance after the loss against New Zealand.

Ryan added with limited resources and to be in third place in the IRB Series standings, it was a good start with such an inexperienced side.

Fiji is pooled with New Zealand, Spain and France.

Fiji will take on NZ in their first pool match of the NZ 7s at 2.06pm next Friday.


Story by: Aliki Bia