SYDNEY Nadro players and fans celebrate its IDC victory after a 3-1 win over Rewa at Bonnyrigg White Stadium on Sunday.

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Fiji hard to stop when they bring it: Ryan

Fiji Sports

Fiji 7s Coach Ben Ryan.Fiji 7s Coach Ben Ryan.Having already coached the Vodafone Fiji 7s side to two victories (Dubai, Japan) in the current HSBC 7s World Series, coach Benjamin Ryan believes the boys have what it takes to make it 3 in a row/ back to back in Hong Kong.

Ryan told IRB that "when they (Fiji) want to turn up, when they want to turn it on, they are not impossible to stop, but pretty hard to."

Ben is certainly beaming with confidence ahead of the HK leg which kicks off at Happy Valley in 2 days’ time. With 6 tournaments done and dusted, the top 3 teams on the overall standings have shared the spoils - 2 each - however, consistency is one thing keeping NZ and South Africa ahead of Fiji and Ryan is looking to turn that around.

Ben also paid homage to the importance and deep meaning this tournament holds for the people of Fiji.

"The guys in the islands are crazy about the HK 7s and it seems as though you can loose every game and win Hong Kong and they'll be happy”.

However, this tournament might mean more to Ben himself than the fans back home. In his illustrious career in charge of England (56 HSBC IRB World 7s series tournaments, reaching semifinals or better 28 times and the longest serving England 7s coach of all time) - and now in charge of Fiji - Ben Ryan has never won the pinnacle of all the 7s events - the Hong Kong 7s crown has been eluding him all along.

"I am certainly looking forward to coaching a Fijian side in Hong Kong, it is going to be a memory I'll hold for a long time," said Ryan.

Meanwhile current England coach Simon Amor - also a first time coach in HK is aiming to end a 7 year drought at So Kon Po. He was part of the winning team from 2002 - 2004 and 2006 as a player and England has not won in HK thereafter.

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