Percy Kean

www.fijitimes.com

Finally the pens of the brave among the "silent majority" have started to raise their support of opinions this column along with its friends have continued to highlight on the affairs going on at the colonial wooden structure on Gordon Street.

Asaeli Tuibeqa of Suva, Mohammed Ali from Nadi and Timoci Gaunavinaka in Nausori have started to direct questions to the right place - the Fiji Rugby Union. Good on you guys.

There are many more out there of all races and gender who have similar sentiments and hopefully the rugby dons will hear them as well. But are they listening?

Even former rugby great and Australia's Rugby World Cup winning captain John Eales knows our huge potential and pinpointed our weaknesses. In the same breath he has called on the FRU to get the basics right. Maybe both on and off the field.

Difficulties for Tanivula

National sevens coach Iliesa Tanivula has in the past joined the ranks of former national coaches and pundits of the game in pointing out the difficulties they face. Because even our national reps are still being taught the fundamentals of the game.

In a recent interview with the Fiji Times the Navakai native of Nadi gave an honest opinion in saying that winning on the grand prix like the IRB Sevens World Series was easier said than done. 

You have to be at one of these tournaments with our national reps to understand the pressures on and off the field they endure.

However, the report quoting Tanivula said: Critics who think they know rugby need to change their mindset before they speak. Because when the team loses they rub it in and when the boys win they jump on the wagon.

He said many critics did not really know what they were talking about when airing their concerns.

But unlike Tuibeqa, Ali and Gaunavinaka surely Tanivula did not direct his comments at the head honchos at FRU who have fabricated suitable defences after our national Sevens team's dismal results on the IRB World Sevens circuit.

Like blaming government for the lack of facilities when the IRB pumps in an excess of $1million for development purposes.

My plea is for decision makers not to victimise the national sevens coach for speaking the truth.

He is trying to put together a playing style that suits the Fijians like he did at Hong Kong and Murrayfield in 2009.
And we hear that another executive calls for the injection of young blood.

Is this mere copycat in following the likes of Australia, Wales, England just because we commentators talk development on television on what they are undergoing and do as they look to the future?

All this while FRU has a High Performance Unit which seems to be earning a lot of praises for a job not being done.

Why not a tackling school or a rucks and mauls development schools?

There's still no proof of what the Unit professes to be doing in the pudding that this rugby crazy nation hungers for.

FRU's 'showy planning and poor execution'

It has taken a full year in office for the FRU chairman, Bill Gavoka, to apparently realise there might be something wrong with how we develop our national sport.

"Fiji needs to look seriously at how rugby is developed in the country" was the less than inspiring comment from the chairman after Fiji’s semi-final departure at the Hong Kong Sevens.

Taken in isolation one might even believe that Bill finally had a handle on what he and his board need to start doing.

But, unfortunately, reading the additional comments by Bill in the very same article in the official rugby newspaper it becomes blindingly clear that nothing much has changed and we can only expect the same old showy planning and poor execution we have become accustomed to over recent years.

Bill went on to speculate: "Samoa is now a powerhouse of rugby in the Pacific and it's due to the facilities they have."

This was a reference to the facilities Samoa Rugby inherited following the South Pacific Games in Apia in 2007.

The fact that our Government didn't accede to the FRU's request to be given Lawaqa Park is then cited by Bill as the big difference between Fiji and Samoan rugby.

According to Bill they have these fantastic facilities and we don't and that's why they're a 'powerhouse' and we're struggling.

Sorry, Bill. This is a load that just won't wash.

Stop blaming the government

The FRU has more than enough equipment, grounds, gymnasiums, video analysis software, intellectual property and player resources to not only be a 'powerhouse' in the Pacific but a real force in international rugby.

We have been at pains for a year and now the "silent majority' are pointing out to you the things you don't have, Bill. And the things you and Fiji Rugby don't have Bill, are a plan and the ability to execute that plan.
You bemoan the lack of facilities but you continue to waste money on junkets for unnecessary staff on a Northern Hemisphere tour.

Instead of following your own procedures you hastily re-sign sponsorship agreements without proper consideration and discussion from competing bids, thereby kissing off additional cash funding of more than $6 million over the next three years.

This money could have cleared all FRU debt, which must conservatively be costing $10,000 a month just to service, as well as provide the levels of funding to drag rugby back onto its feet.

And now, instead of laying the blame for our rugby performances where it rightfully belongs, at your door, you choose to blame the Government for not handing over Lawaqa Park to your control.

Here Bill you should ask your chief why when the IRB was ready to provide the funds for a state of the art rugby facility in Nadi the then FRU chairman shelved the project because he wanted it somewhere near the proposed Studio City in Ra.

However, based on the management record of the FRU over the last few years it is not surprising the Government refused this request.

Bill Gavoka goes on to state that "our boys deserve" the best facilities. It is now abundantly clear that this is just more 'lip service' to the job he is supposed to be doing.

Tomorrow we talk of why the time is nigh for change.

As for Samoa, they are the fast-rising force in sevens rugby and the last two rounds of the IRB Sevens World Series look set to be a battle royale between Samoa and New Zealand for the crown.

Fiji seems to be in sixes and sevens to say the least.

The high energy efforts of Stephen Betham's charges have reaped the rewards - three tournament wins out of the last four. They have proven their mental toughness, conditioning, physicality, commitment and composure.
And remember they are all home grown talent.

In Fiji change can come from the grassroots -the lifeblood of our national sport. It's time for the groundswell of public opinion to be heard by all affiliated provinces to the Fiji Rugby Union.