Justice for Fiji 7s
What’s next for a sport that is in shambles
THE Biblical text of the vine tree in the Book of John, Chapter 15, tells us of Jesus saying: I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. It also talks about how withered or broken-off branches are treated. It further states that such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. In other context, it talks about branches that do not bear fruit are cut off.
The Fiji 7s team has been to 18 tournaments under the current 7s leadership with no title except the Rugby World Cup.
So, the question is who is the “wither or broken-off” branch in the 7s set-up? Is it the players, the trainers, or the coaches?
Fiji 7s rugby has come under fire leading up to the Olympic Games in Paris with five months away from defending the gold medal for the second time.
Of all the years of Fiji’s involvement in the sport, this could be the worst performance in HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series (HSBC SVNS Series).
The bigger question is whether the new Fiji Rugby Union board under chairperson Peter Mazey’s leadership has done justice to the sport, fans, and sponsors.
Mazey is also the executive chairperson for the Fiji Sports Commission that is responsible for the salary of the Fiji 7s coach. The Fiji Government gives funding to the commission and the burning question is — are they satisfied with the results after 18 tournaments?
The answer to this question will be a matter of perspective.
Mazey in an earlier interview said: “We will always remind them of their KPIs (key performance indicators) because each player has KPIs as well because they are all contracted and all are on annual salaries, the same as the coaches and so we do remind them of what we expect.”
The question is have they reviewed the KPIs for this national 7s team after 17 tournaments?
Giving the axe
Mazey also confirmed that any decisions regarding the coaching staff of the national sevens team would only be made after thorough discussions with all parties, including players and support staff.
He and the FRU remain fully committed to supporting its current coaching staff and players, fostering a positive environment for all our national teams.
If we have to walk the path of looking at KPIs, English Premier League clubs do not hesitate to axe under-performing coaches.
Paul Heckingbottom was the first Premier League manager of 2023-24 to be sacked during the actual season.
He received his marching orders on December 5 with Sheffield United at the bottom of the league.
Football Transfers reported in the 2022-23 season, 14 managers were sacked or departed in the Premier League, including Thomas Tuchel, Antonio Conte and Patrick Vieira.
Quique Setien became the first La Liga manager to be sacked in 2023-24. The experienced coach paid the price after his Villarreal team won one and lost three of their first four games of the season. Just imagine, he lost three of his four games as coach, then he was shown the exit door.
It was also reported Paco Lopez was sacked on November 26 as Granada sent him his marching orders with the club 19th in La Liga.
Rayo Vallecano became the next club to sack its manager in February, with Francisco Rodriguez being replaced by Inigo Perez.
Relegation battlers Cadiz also sacked their manager Sergio in January with the club sitting 18th.
So those top clubs are doing justice to their fans and sponsors.
Why not in Fiji? What difference does it make for Ben Gollings to remain at the helm and winless after 18 tournaments? There must be a valid argument that FRU needs to justify to fans and sponsors.
To build a good environment as a team, FRU board members should map out a plan to save Fiji’s gold at this year’s Olympic Games.
It’s for them to create an atmosphere in a room — each person on the team is responsible for that. It should work out well and the win must be for each other because they should know how important it is for them as well as fans and sponsors.
The way this is played out at each tournament, rugby pundits have predicted that Fiji will fail in its third bid.
7s process
Under the leadership of coach Gollings, what he has achieved or failed to achieve, is there for all to see.
Fans expect their team to win tournaments in the HSBC SVNS Series. It may weigh heavy on the team, but Gollings in an earlier report boasted that players trust in the direction they’re heading.
He thought there was always pressure and I’m pretty sure past coaches would’ve felt the same. To him “that’s part of being in Fiji”.
Those coaches may have felt the same thing, but they definitely got different results.
“What we must do is we have to stick to what we know, stick to the process and plans, we know the direction we are going in and we are excited for that,” Gollings said earlier.
Another question, is what direction. It has not been clear what direction the team is heading after an 18-tournament losing streak.
With the new season already underway, results have not been what the fans want the team to yield. Gollings hopes one thing that will bring them together is a dream not fulfilled.
Efforts to try and do better, teamwork and constant communication seem to be lacking in the team.
What happened in the year leading up to the Olympics — introducing new players — should have happened when he was first tasked to coach the team . In these past two HSBC SVNS Series tournaments alone, Gollings has introduced four players: Ropate Rere, Solomoni Rauqe, Alusio Vakadranu, and Viliame Naikausa.
It begs a critical question: Is this the right time to introduce new players?
For a spectator, this is the time Gollings should try out his combination to the Olympics.
The interest of many fans has turned to the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua because of f their consistency in their games week in and week out.
There needs to be an injection of fresh viewpoints and ideas into the system that is not working under Gollings.
Now we have former England player in B-J Mather as the new general manager of FRU’s high performance unit (HPU).
He took over from Simon Raiwalui, who resigned before taking up the Flying Fijians coaching job.
B-J posses professional doctorate and MBA and has over 20 years of applied HP leadership experience in managing elite rugby and other Olympic sport programs in England and Australia.
By looking at how the Fiji 7s team under performance at the SVNS Series, his expertise is much needed. He should review Gollings’ KPIs and make an honest proposal to the board with the aim of delivering sustainable international success for Fiji.
Failed system
Former Fiji 7s captain and Rio Olympics gold medallist Osea Kolinisau rightly summed up that the system given to 7s players is not working for them, but they are being critised for it. Fiji has been playing a new style of 7s rugby under Gollings.
As witnessed, other teams look good while Fiji is starting to look like the other teams because the system gave the players no choice, but to play to the standards of other teams. Those competitive teams in the series are not as strong as we think they were, only Fiji had dropped in its standard. It should be a reminder to those who will be vying for Fiji’s 7s coaching job not to “mess with the Fijian style”.
It will be a problem for the sport of Fiji 7s as Fijians are born with flair.
Fans have come to understand that our past successes played a big part in the sport being popular, but today it’s starting to fade away and has gained little or no interest at all.
Now we are at the end of the road with five months away from defending the 7s Olympic Games gold in Paris, France.
FRU can’t turn back time, but it can certainly do something in terms of those appointed to run the affairs of our beloved game.
The cries of fans have echoed on social media platforms for Gollings’ removal which might bring a wind of change for our national 7s team. The team now needs to become strong by defying defeat and turning loss into gain and failure into success,. It takes reviewing past tournaments when Fiji was at its peak, ruling the 7s arena.
Never late
The idea of changing leadership in the team is not a matter of time, but making the best decision.
The 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens was hosted in Hong Kong for the second time.
Waisale Serevi and Wayne Pivac had a normal week of preparation work in Suva before flying out to Hong Kong.
The 2005 RWC 7s team was a great Fijian team loaded with skills, experience power in Semisi Naevo, Serevi, William Ryder, 21, who possessed a pint-sized trickster with the tag of “the new Serevi”, cousins Viliame and Apolosi Satala, Sireli Bobo, Marika Vunibaka, Jone Daunivucu, Vilimone Delasau, Neumi Nanuku, Ifereimi Rawaqa, a lock measuring 6ft 6in and 18 stone and Nasoni Rokobiau.
Pivac teamed up with Malakai Finau, Josateki Savou and Paul Feeney.
Talk about little time to prepare, it just takes unity, team bonding and mapping out a winning atmosphere for Fiji to win another gold in Paris.
It’s high time for talking less and putting in the hard yard for the 7s coaching team in order to give back the trust that stakeholders possess in the team.
So, can we identify the wither or broken-off” branch in the 7s setup? Its time for FRU to open its eyes and make some tough calls.
That’s it for now as we head into Los Angeles this weekend.
Go Fiji go!