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Mark Evans aiming to use new role to bring top class rugby to Fiji
By Chris Jones
Mark Evans, the new Swire Shipping Fijian Drua chief executive, is planning to change the face of rugby in Fiji by staging six matches in the island nation.
Getting top class teams to travel to Fiji has been a recurring problem but Evans, who held similar roles with the Western Force, Global Rapid Rugby, Melbourne Storm, Harlequins and was Director of Rugby at Saracens, is confident the six matches will mark a significant moment for rugby in Fiji.
Evans, who was appointed to the Super Rugby Pacific franchise last month, has arrived in Fiji shortly after the opening of the Drua’s $2m state-of-the-art training facility. The Fijian Drua Home Base in Nadi will house high-performance and recreational facilities for athletes and team management, as well as coaches, medical, analysis and welfare staff
Evans told the Fiji Times: "I saw the new home base which is incredibly impressive and I suppose if possible, I am even more excited than I was when I was here a few months back.
“This year we’re hoping to execute six games, three in Suva and three in Lautoka. We know what the Super Rugby Pacific is all about and I’m hopeful that we can take it up another level in years to come and make significant progress not just on the field but off the field as well.
“You have got to get everything right and we want to get better at all levels. With any luck, each year we will progress or at least in some places, then in time we can look back and say we’ve become the first professional sports team on the island, and everything has worked out.
Evans paid tribute to the groundwork undertaken by former CEO Brain Thorburn and added:“The progress under Brian’s leadership has been incredibly impressive.
“It’s always difficult to be a start-up in any sector and that’s what the Drua is and still is”
Drua Super Pacific Rugby home match schedule:
March 11; Crusaders
April 1; Rebels
April 29; Blues
May 6; Hurricanes
May 27; Moana Pasifika
June 3; Reds
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Latest Comments
The extent to which rugby pundits in NZ rely on their rose tinted spectacles really baffles me. Anton Lienert-Brown has been a good but nothing more player for a few seasons now. For an experienced player he gives a maddening amount of penalties and yellow cards too so I don’t give him any credit for all that experience.
If you had a clean slate and knew nothing about history, the guy wouldn’t be anywhere near people’s choice for 13 (or 12) if you only watch super rugby the last couple of seasons. Bailyn Sullivan / Billy Proctor / AJ Lam / Tavatavanawai to just just a few have all looked miles better than ALB.
How on earth does that end up with people saying he should be in the squad let alone starting. We have to move on from these type of players - he was never a great player and we have so many alternate options.
There is a group of mediocre players that we need to clear out, or at least try other options. We know how limited that group are, now is the time to see if some other talent can step up (the time was last year, but anyway…).
Jacobson, ALB, Papali’i, Christie, Lord, Havili, Reece. Just move on from them all and try for some upside. Thank god Cane/Perenara have finally moved on because they were in this camp too.
Go to commentsI don't think that Razor would have had Mo’unga as back up to anyone! But in his absence DMac definitely deserved to start in Paris.
The system is working well but I hope they've reviewed whether they could have done anything more to retain Mo’unga & Frizell. As you say, could they have been more flexible?
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