AWARD WINNERS TALENT SEARCH
Forty teenagers are gathered outside a Fiji Rugby Union gym in Sigatoka, ready for a weights session. They are part of the Nadroga Academy. Later they will walk across to the senior team’s pitch to carry the province’s one scrum machine to their training area for a few drills. Their navy shirts feature the province’s stallion logo and that of Clermont Auvergne.
The two towns may be 17,000km apart but the French club had clearly heard about the proliferation of quality players in the area. Team manager Semi Cabenalotu likens Nadroga to the All Blacks because they’re “always winning” while U20 coach Poasa Serevi believes the huge sand dunes in Sigatoka are the reason the province does so well. He says: “Players train there and it teaches you to be tough. It trains not only the body but the mind.” Clermont partnered with the Nadroga union seven years ago. They help
Telusa Veainu was named RPA Players’ Player of the Year Leone Nakarawa European Player of the Year Vereniki Goneva Premiership Player of the Season in 2017-18 fund an academy in the province, provide technical, fitness and nutritional programmes for players to follow, and coach trainers. In return, the French club gets the pick of their players each year and the provincial union receive a development fee for any signed. Alivereti Raka is one such player Clermont signed – and he looks set to represent France at international level rather than Fiji.
The programme is highly controversial but Nadroga president Jikoibau Matawalu, who is the brother of Fiji captain Akapusi Qera, says: “We don’t think it’s a bad thing. If a player from a village gets that opportunity, look at the value that comes back. The whole community benefits. This has generally been good for Fiji rugby and the players.”
He points to the fact 40 players are in the academy, studying at Cuvu College, and all get the chance to develop their skills and fitness. While Clermont take the cream of the crop, the union works to place other players with European clubs and has strong links with the