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Fiji Sevens star William Ryder believes his country's win at last weekend’s NZI Sevens in Wellington was down to an improvement in the side's team spirit.

The win was Ryder’s first since his comeback with Fiji on the IRB Sevens World Series stage, with the Bua man showing glimpses of his best form in the last three tournaments.

“To win in a Fiji shirt again is really important and to get a win in Wellington was a really big boost for us,” said Ryder speaking to UR7s.

“I don’t think we bonded together as well in Dubai and George but we more together as a squad in Wellington, we’ve worked together as a team and that’s an important difference.”

The backbone to Fiji’s win was the strength of the sides squad with Ryder himself often reduced to cameos at the end of games with the likes of Waisale Beci and Osea Kolinisau gaining starting berths.

With the USA Sevens starting this weekend, Ryder is also all too aware of the difficulties of maintaining standards on back-to-back legs.

“It’s one of the best Fiji squads I’ve been involved with. The second weekend is tough having to pick yourself up and recover from little injuries.

“We are looking forward to some good recovery in the lead up to Vegas. We will need to prove ourselves again and match our performance.”

Fiji coach Iliesa Tanivula feel other sides might want to target Fiji this weekend, following their Wellington win. Tanivula is also hoping his squad can maintain the consistency of performance that is crucial on the IRB stage.

“Winning here won’t make things easier for us as every team now will be very keen to now win in Vegas. They will target us I’m sure and we have to make sure we are ready,” said Tanivula.

“It's something we have worked on and although we have excellent individual players it is about staying together as a team and playing as a group and being consistent. That is the key.”

Both Ryder and Tanivula are excited about the USA Sevens’ move to Las Vegas, regarded as ‘The Entertainment Capital of the World’.

“It is the first time for a lot of these boys in USA, and obviously first time in Vegas too. We want them to enjoy it but keep focused on the job in hand,” said Tanivula.

“Yeah we are looking forward to it having a look at the casinos and clubs after the tournament. It’s exciting. We just need to stay together, stay as one and keep focused on winning again,” added Ryder.