1
'It is with a heavy heart that I have to inform Fiji...' - Baber quits
By Chris Jones
Fijian 7s gold medal winning Head Coach Gareth Baber has decided not to renew his contract with the Fiji Rugby as he targets a move back into 15s rugby.
Fijian officials were hoping that Baber would accept an offer to take the team to next Olympics but having successfully plotted the defence of the gold medal won in Rio at the Japan games Baber said “It is with a heavy heart that I have to inform Fiji Rugby and the people of Fiji that I will not be accepting the contract offer to coach the Fijian 7s Team to the next Olympic Games. I have a burning ambition to challenge my coaching again in the 15’s environment and know that I must immerse myself in this if I’m truly to be measured and to progress in my coaching career.
“I’m an individual who is driven by the challenge of the sport that I love, and this is what brought me to Fiji in the first place, the chance to coach the best 7s team in the best rugby nation in the world.My family and I have lived the sporting experiences in Fiji that I never thought would have been possible and I cannot express my gratitude enough to the FRU Board and everyone for supporting us on our journey.”
FRU Chief Executive John O’Connor said:“We totally respect the decision made by Gareth and thank him for his service to Fiji Rugby and to Fiji. We are all proud of Gareth achievement culminating in the gold medal defence at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
“Gareth has sought consideration to be released early from his contract by the 30th of November 2021 and the Board has accepted and endorsed his request as such Gareth’s last day with the Fiji Rugby Union will be on the Tuesday, the 30th of November 2021.”
O’Connor also confirmed the position of the Fijian 7s Head Coach will be advertised. “While we are going through the process of advertising the position and going through the recruitment process, the Fijiana 7s Head Coach Saiasi Fuli will be overseeing the Fijian 7s program and will be supported by dual Olympic Gold Medal winner and Captain Jerry Tuwai as the Team prepare for the Dubai 7s which will be held from the 26th to the 27th of November,” added O’Connor.
“While Coach Fuli is committed to the Fijiana 7s program until the World Cup in South Africa, he has also agreed to assist in preparing the Fijian 7s Team and we are thankful and grateful to him for agreeing to take up the challenge of preparing the Fijian 7s Team with the support of Jerry Tuwai.” Baber will be providing support to the Team and to Coach Fuli as the Team builds up to the Dubai 7s.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster
3
Suaalii strikes awe as Wallabies lose midfielder
4
Scott Robertson responds about handling errors
5
Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
Go to comments