The Vodafone Fijiana will look to return to the basics as they prepare for the second Test against the Springbok Women.

Head coach Willie Walker says ball retention, conditioning and execution under pressure will be key areas of focus after their opening encounter.

Walker admits the Fijiana cannot afford to give away possession, after committing 17 turnovers in the first Test, and must improve their ability to control the ball and capitalise on opportunities.

“For me as a coach, I think we need to get back to some basics, some fundamentals of rugby. Like I say, we can’t play a Test match with 17 turnovers. We’re just giving the ball away to the opposition and to compete at Test match level you’ve got to be able to control your own ball and make the best of those opportunities. So we’ll be focusing a lot on that over the next week especially. But like I say, this programme is in about these two weeks. We’ve got a long period of time to build as a group because we’ve got a bigger goal in mind.”

He adds that conditioning remains an area for improvement, particularly as the team continues to develop its skill set under pressure.

“I think it’s probably one of our focus areas. We’re not at tier one level in terms of our conditioning and that’s an area that we would need to focus on. Again, it goes a similar stead with our skill set and especially under pressure. But I think it’s probably one of the areas that if we can make some good change there we’ll see big change in other areas as well.”

Meanwhile, the Springbok Women will work on countering Fiji’s defensive pressure, with their assistant coach highlighting set-piece execution as the platform for their backs to play an expansive game.

“The Fijian team had a really good rush on us, so they put us under pressure on attack. So we definitely want to work on that. Other than that, our set-piece is going to lay the good foundation for us, as we want, so that our backs can play their expansive game and score the tries.”

Both sides are expected to make adjustments as they prepare for another physical contest, with Fiji aiming to respond strongly in the second Test.