The Wellington leg of the IRB Sevens World Series kicks off today.
16 teams including sides from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Papua New Guinea will display their skill at Westpac Stadium in front of tens of thousands of punters over the weekend.
Fiji are the defending champions of last year's Wellington tournament and finished fourth in last season's series standings.
During the annual sevens street parade in the capital yesterday, the Fiji captain Emosi Vucago said the team was staying focussed as it believes competition will be even greater this year.
"Yeah we are prepared well for this weekend because we know that all the teams that are coming have prepared well. That's why we are prepared well because we are defending the title this year."
The tournament wraps up Saturday evening.
The players then travel to the United States for the Las Vegas leg of the series to be played next weekend.
