THE blooding of unknown players at the Hong Kong 7s tournament will play to Fiji's advantage, says former coach Josateki Savou.
Fiji travels to Happy Valley with a relatively inexperienced team — with only three players having played at the mecca of 7s.
Skipper Nemani Nagusa, Ilai Tinai and Osea Kolinisau have all tasted victory at the So Kon Po Stadium and will lead the charge. Savou says the other players have a golden opportunity to prove their worth.
"I believe they can defend the Hong Kong 7s title. Most of these players are unknown players and I think that is an advantage for Fiji," said.
"Before we had players like Joji (Ragamate), Sete (Cakau) and Levani (Botia) which the opposition have come to know how they play.
"These new players are unknown and that will be hard for the opposition to predict their style of play."
Savou said he had faith in the team to defend the title.
"I think this is a good team, they have proven themselves at training and I believe they have what it takes to be in the national team," Savou said.
Savou was pleased with the performance of the team during a scrimmaging session with the Army side at Nasova yesterday.
"I think they played well taking into account that there was no Sete or Joji in the team. The new players played well and I believe Dere is also happy with their performance."
However, he cautioned the team to be aggressive in defence.
"The is the only area they need to work hard on is their defence. We Fijians are good in attack but our defence is always our weak areas.
"If this team tightens up their defence I believe they can bring back the cup to Fiji," Savou added.
He urged the general public to rally behind the team at the Hong Kong and Japan tournaments.
Fiji plays Hong Kong in its opening pool match.