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Fiji unveil Montpellier boss Vern Cotter as new head coach
By Online Editors
Fiji have announced Montpellier boss Vern Cotter as the successor to former head coach John McKee.
The New Zealand-born coach will take the helm of the Flying Fijians once his commitments in the Top 14 with Montpellier conclude at the end of the current season.
Experienced at both international and club level, Cotter led Scotland to the World Cup quarter-finals in 2015 and had the most successful record of any Scottish coach in the professional era.
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The 57-year-old also assisted the Crusaders to back-to-back Super Rugby titles in 2005 and 2006, and guided Clermont to a Top 14 crown in 2010.
Acquiring such an experienced coach with a proven track record has led to Fiji Rugby chairman commander Francis Kean labelling Cotter's signing as a coup for the union.
“Following an extensive recruitment process with many outstanding applications, the board is pleased to have secured such an exceptional candidate in Vern Cotter for the top job of Flying Fijians head coach,” he said in a statement.
“Mr Cotter presented a thorough and detailed plan to take the team to new levels of success and we were impressed by his vision and expectations of what can be achieved by the programme.
“We believe he will drive a culture of high-performance, fitness and discipline standards that are necessary to achieve success on the global stage.”
Cotter expressed his excitement in landing the role, and is hopeful of taking Fiji to the next level in the global rugby landscape.
“Fiji Rugby has come a long way in the last few years and I am looking forward to the opportunity to work with the talent within the national teams and enhance the competitiveness of Fiji on the world stage," he said.
" Kean said.
“We are committed to support this new Head Coach with the resources he needs to manage a high performance programme that develops the widespread talent available, in order to progress Fiji Rugby, back up the world rugby rankings.
“We look forward to welcoming Vern onto the island and getting down to business ahead of the July Pacific Nations Cup and test against Australia.”
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"This piece is nothing more than the result of revisionist fancy of Northern Hemisphere rugby fans. Seeing what they want to see, helped but some surprisingly good results and a desire to get excited about doing something well."
Ireland had 17 wins on trot including 2 x NZ and SA. France only lost to Ireland in 2 years. These aren't surprising results. Can you please substantiate your nonsense statements?
Go to commentsRemoving Gatland before the 6 nations is not going to change much imo. I think the Welsh rugby board have a lot to answer for. There needs to be a major reshuffle there and public ownership of a woeful deterioration to a once proud rugby nation.
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