Wear the Fiji colours, fly the Fiji flag and cheer for the Digicel Fiji 7s team as it begins its quest to win the Melrose Cup in the 2013 Rugby World Cup in Moscow.

That is the request from the team in Russia as they get ready for the battle from early tomorrow morning.

Speaking from his Moscow hotel room, Coach Alifereti Dere said while there was a lot of discussion during the selection of the players, this is the country’s team that will play to make Fiji proud this weekend.

Dere said they are also focusing on their first game and will treat it as the final.


Dere said the team is loving the weather in Russia and the players are also used to the time difference.


The 12 players getting ready for the big task ahead:

Lepani Botia (Captain), Vereniki Goneva, Watisoni Votu, Metuisela Talebula, Leone Nakarawa, Samisoni Viriviri, Nemani Nagusa, Joji Ragamate, Ilai Tinai, Alipate Ratini, Jasa Veremalu and Waisea Nayacalevu.  

Dere said the management is also trying to put through a request to get Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama who is currently on an official visit to Russia, to present the jerseys to the team.
 
The run on team against Tonga is Leone Nakarawa, Lepani Botia, Waisea Nayacalevu, Joji Ragamate, Metuisela Talebula, Vereniki Goneva and Samisoni Viriviri.

Meanwhile, the team that will really come out firing will be South Africa as they have won three tournaments in this year’s series and talk in camp is they are out to win the Cup for Nelson Mandela who is currently in hospital.

The South African Sevens rugby team held an emotional capping ceremony earlier today, only hours before the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament kicks off in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium and the South Africans face hosts Russia in Pool B.

Oregan Hoskins, president of the South African Rugby Football Union asked captain Kyle Brown and his team to ‘keep Madiba in their hearts’ as they look to win the Melrose Cup for the first time.

In an emotional message, Hoskins said as rugby people they owe former President Mandela so much and it would be very fitting if South Africa can win this title with the Springbok emblem on their jerseys, the badge of honour former president Mandela was so keen to protect. 

He said everyone knows Mandela is not well, so a good performance will be a fine way to show support to his legacy as the father of the nation and a custodian of SA rugby.

Springbok Sevens rugby captain Kyle Brown, who will incidentally be wearing the number six on his back, just as Francois Pienaar in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final in South Africa, said his team are ready to confront their destiny.
 
It has been 12 years since the New Zealand 7s team lifted the Melrose Cup.

Four years ago New Zealand lost to eventual winners Wales in the quarterfinals in one of the shocks of the tournament and before that they lost out to Fiji in the 2005 final.

Captain DJ Forbes, Tomasi Cama and Lote Raikabula played in the last World Cup for the team.

Forbes said they did receive some words of wisdom from the 2001 winning New Zealand 7s team before they left for Russia.


Four years ago Wales coach Paul John led a promising young team of 80-1 outsiders to Rugby World Cup Sevens glory. 

It’s an unavoidable opening gambit in any pretournament chat this time around.

He said they are trying to treat this as just another tournament, but the title defence is an added incentive that the boys are aware of, and as a World Cup it's a special occasion.

The majority of his core group of players is fit and raring to go under Captain Adam Thomas and there is an unmistakable degree of experience there. 

There are small margins between success and failure in Sevens, and the World Cup-winning coach will need no reminder of that this weekend when his team lines up against Fiji, Tonga and Uruguay in pool play. 

With six pools of four in the men’s competition and only eight quarter final places up for grabs, the brutal reality is that they need three wins from three to guarantee their last eight berth.
 
Fiji will play Tonga at 12.28am tomorrow in their first pool match of the 7s World Cup. 

We then take on Uruguay at 6.28pm tomorrow and Fiji’s last pool match is against Wales at 12.42am Sunday. 

The Cup quarterfinals start at 9pm Sunday, the Cup semis kick off at 12.40am Monday while the World Cup 7s final will start at 4.55am Monday.
      

Story by: Vijay Narayan