A fascinating new documentary telling the extraordinary story of the Fiji Sevens team has been released by HSBC, World Rugby Sevens title sponsor. The 17-minute feature documents Fiji's journey to their first medal of any colour at the Olympics, as they won Gold in Rio.
Despite a population of just 900,000, Fiji are the number one ranked 7s team in the world and this year followed through on that ranking as they blew away all before them in Rio with a sensational brand of 7s rugby, some might argue the likes of which has rarely been seen.
'Sevens from Heaven' looks at how this humble nation conquered the rugby world to win the HSBC World Sevens Series for the third time, in May, and then go on to take Gold in the summer.
The documentary provides previously unseen footage of the men’s and women’s teams, including the incredible training techniques that develop Fiji’s uniquely skilful style of play.
From gruelling training on the island’s towering sand dunes to skills honed at a young age playing rugby with coconuts and bottles.
Fiji coach Ben Ryan said of the documentary: "It's a great and unique story, like fast bowlers from the West Indies or sprinters from Jamaica that go on to dominate the world.
"These teams are continually achieving incredible results against teams that are more developed and have more support. This film seeks to tell that story and it is an honour to be part of bringing these incredible scenes to the world.
"When we showed the first edit of the film to the team in our training camp in Chile before flying to Brazil, it brought genuine tears to their eyes and I’m certain helped to inspire their incredible performance in Rio."
The release of the film comes on the eve of the start of the new HSBC Wold Rugby Sevens Series, which kicks off in Dubai this Friday, 2nd December.