FORMER WALLABIES STAR BACKS AUSSIE SEVENS TEAM TO STUN FIJI AT PARIS OLYMPICS AFTER HEAVY RAIN DURING OPENING CEREMONY

Aussies tackle Fiji in Men's Sevens Rugby Olympic semi-final
Will be underdogs in Paris, Fiji won gold at Rio and Tokyo Games
Kick-off is midnight, winners faces France or South Africa in final

Former Wallabies star Morgan Turinui believes Australia can stage a boilover and beat the might of Fiji in their Sevens Rugby semi-final at the Paris Olympics on Saturday night.

It looms as a daunting assignment given the Fijians have never previously lost a Sevens game at Olympic level.

They won gold in Rio (2016) and Tokyo (2021) - and were undefeated in both tournaments.

But Turinui - who played 20 Tests for the Wallabies before turning his attention to commentary - hinted at an upset.

'On a hard, fast track, Fiji could possibly go to a level that Australia would struggle to cope with,' Turinui told Wide World of Sports.

'But the [recent] wet weather means you've got to stand a bit closer together, stand a bit deeper, you can't get a little offload away.

'There's higher risk to the reward of the way they like to play....but having said that, it still remains a tough assignment.'

Electric outside back Matt Gonzalez pointed to the close bond John Manenti's squad share.

'We're going to take it [opportunity] with both hands, a game at a time,' he said.

'All 14 of us are just ripping in because we know how important this is to us and the country.

'[As a group] we hang out every day, we see each other every day for eight hours and then we try and catch up on a weekend for a few coffees, so we're a special group of boys.

'We all love each other very much and out there you can see it when we're playing for each other and that crest on our jersey.'

Manenti's men are brimming with confidence and understandably so - they have beaten Samoa (21-14), Kenya (21-7), Argentina (22-14) and the US (18-0) to remain unbeaten.

The Aussies play at midnight, with the final scheduled for 3:45am on Sunday AEST against either France or South Africa at the Stade de France.

2024-07-27T07:46:23Z dg43tfdfdgfd