No need to panic. Let coaches work on our Flying Fijians

It’s step-by-step for the Flying Fijians as they build up for next year’s Rugby World Cup in France. The Waisea Nayacalevu captained side bounced back to beat the French Barbarians 46-14 in Lille, France, yesterday morning (Fiji time).

The Fijians had earlier lost 12-28 to Scotland and 1735 to Ireland during this Northern Tour.

Head coach Vern Cotter said they were building up from where they had left off during the Pacific Nations Cup in August.

The target is for them to be at their best during the World Cup, but as of now it’s all down to hard work.

Let’s not get carried away with the win over the French Barbarians or feel disheartened with the two Test loses. It’s all about keeping the faith for the team.

The next focus for Cotter and his coaching staff is to monitor the Fijian Drua’s participation in the Super Rugby Pacific, which is from February 24 to June 24.

Flying Fijians assistant coach Glenn Jackson is also part of the Drua coaching staff and should be providing all the much-needed information to Cotter.

At the same time the Europe based-players will continue to play for their respective clubs in the Top 14, ProD2, Gallagher Premiership and United Rugby Championship. Their season ends around midyear, then followed by the five Test matches. The Test matches see the Flying Fijians play Samoa, Georgia and Japan here. The Flying Fijians then travel to Twickenham to face England and France in Paris.

This is before their World Cup pool opener against Wales on September 10. The Fijians are also pooled with Australia, Uruguay and Portugal.

This will be a crucial phase of the Flying Fijians preparations where Cotter will blend the Drua and the Europe-based players into one formidable force. It’s not easy, but we need to be patient with the team.

We should be reminded of the adage, ‘that Rome was not build in a day’. So, no need to press the panic button but keep supporting the Flying Fijians, with the hope that they are going to deliver the goods where it matters the most.

Photo: Supplied Flying Fijian Tevita Ikanivere warming up prior to the team’s match up against the French Barbarians in Lille, France, on November 20, 2022.