Baker: USA Sevens targeting podium in Rio

6:59 PM GMT

USA Sevens star Perry Baker insists his teammates have an Olympic medal firmly in their sights after defeating World Sevens Series champions Fiji in a third place play-off at Twickenham.

Baker was at his try-scoring best in London as the USA mounted a highly respectable defence of the sevens title they won in such stunning fashion 12 months ago. Sunday's 26-19 victory over Fiji was their first success against the Pacific Islanders this season, and gives the Eagles real hope they can challenge for gold when rugby returns to the Olympics in Rio this summer.

"It's all eyes on Rio now," Baker told ESPN. "We've got to prep and get it going because we believe we can be on that podium. That's what we want to do, but it's all about the hard work and time we're going to put into it."

The USA were in fine form during the two-day tournament at Twickenham, recording a shock 42-14 thrashing of the mighty New Zealand at the quarterfinal stage before narrowly losing in the semis to eventual winners Scotland.

Baker touched down for four tries in the outing against New Zealand, plus another in the win over Fiji, but the 29-year-old revealed a hint of disappointment that his side had not been able to claim back-to-back titles in London.

"We wanted to try and defend our title but we fell short of that," Baker said. "We wanted to show character, but it's all about preparing for Rio. This was our last big tournament before then, so we approached this as a chance to win bronze. Let's go out there and try and get this third.

"We just had to believe in ourselves and stick to what we were trying to do. Coach [Mike Friday] challenged us and told us that we haven't beaten them on the series at all this year. That was the challenge, to go out there and put them to the sword. It definitely gives us momentum going into our next training session, so we're looking forward to that."

With just under three months until the Olympics get underway in Rio, there is still time for some fine tuning ahead of the sevens shoot-out. And while the USA once again punched well above their weight in London, Baker admitted there was still work to be done before the Games begin.

"We need to communicate more and learn what each other is trying to do," he said. "We go off the page, so we've got to learn to stick together and communicate more. It's all terminology and at the moment we're not understanding each other here and there.

"We've been looking over each tour we've been doing and each time we've been so close, it's just the little things we need to get right. The couple of months we have to prep will get us there. It's going to be hard work."

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Baker: USA Sevens targeting podium in Rio