HONG KONG – Fiji’s men are the reigning two-time Olympic rugby sevens champions and when they play, the Pacific island country comes to a standstill and crime plummets.

But just over three months before they defend their Olympic crown in Paris, there is soul-searching after a painful barren run in the SVNS World Series.

The latest disappointment came in a 19-12 loss to holders New Zealand in the quarter-finals on April 6 in Hong Kong, the most prestigious leg of the series and a tournament Fiji consider home.

New Zealand went on to edge out France 10-7 in the final on April 7 to retain their Hong Kong title and cement their status as the team to beat in Paris.

One month ago, Englishman Ben Gollings was sacked as coach and replaced by former Fiji sevens captain Osea Kolinisau, who helped the country to Olympic gold as a player at the 2016 Rio Games.

“In the pursuit of Olympic glory in France, we have to have the best,” Fiji Rugby Union Trust Board interim chairman Peter Mazey said in axing Gollings.

Kolinisau, 38, took charge for the first time this week in a hot and wet Hong Kong, where Fiji have triumphed a record 19 times and are usually the hottest ticket in town.

But coming to Hong Kong, they had not won a tournament in the five legs so far. The Singapore leg is next up from May 3 to 5.

That poor run continued in defeat to New Zealand and skipper Vatemo Ravouvou said: “The boys have to adapt to the change in coaching staff and we are getting there. But we need to improve in a lot of things, especially our defence.”

In a message to the large number of colourful Fiji fans at the Hong Kong Stadium, many wearing blue wigs, Ravouvou said: “We will work hard to put Fiji back on the map.”

Rugby sevens is the national sport of Fiji.

They have long excelled at the abbreviated form of rugby with slick handling, speed, crunching tackles and a desire to run the ball from anywhere, often ending with outrageous tries.

They won the Olympic title in 2016 by demolishing Britain 43-7 in the final, then again in Tokyo in 2021 by beating New Zealand 27-12 in the gold-medal match.

Those are the only Olympic golds the country of just under one million people has ever won.

A seven-dollar banknote was introduced in 2016 to celebrate the gold in Rio, and was reissued in 2021 when they repeated the feat.

Gollings took over in December 2021 but was axed with the team failing to replicate their golden touch under him.

Satish Narain, a rugby commentator for Fiji’s national broadcaster, told AFP that there are wider issues at play.

“Our players are not smart enough, they are not fit enough for today’s game, our players make wrong decisions under pressure,” he said, adding that some other countries worked harder and had caught up.

Narain declined to call it a crisis, saying: “I would call it Fiji going through a phase in their rugby where a lot of soul-searching needs to be done.

“Fiji at home used to have a very strong club competition. Today our club competition isn’t that well-organised.”

Despite recent travails there is “an air of hope” that Fiji will somehow prevail once more this summer in Paris, said Narain.

“Nothing else will make the Fijian fans happy,” he added. AFP