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'It's already starting' - Overseas stars lining up for Fijian Super Rugby franchise
Fiji’s gold medal chasing Olympic Games sevens players and internationals who have represented other nations are set to join the Fijian Drua squad being assembled to take part in a planned new professional competition next year that will transform rugby in the Pacific Islands and help end the drain of talent to Europe, USA and Japan.
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That is the belief of Fiji Rugby Chief Executive John O’Connor who said having a Super Rugby franchise on home soil will change the landscape of rugby in Fiji forever. Moana Pasifika and the Fijian Drua have been granted conditional licences two join NZR’s existing five Super Rugby Aotearoa clubs and Rugby Australia’s five Super Rugby AU teams in a new tournament being planned for 2022. The FRU will play a minimum of five matches in Fiji, expected to be shared across venues in Suva and in the West.
The FRU have confirmed it has also been contacted by a number of Fijian players who have represented other countries but want to come back and represent the Fijian Drua.
Simon Raiwalui, FRU high-performance manager and former Flying Fijians captain, said players in the 37-member Fijian Drua squad, which would be announced in June, would include some Fijian players playing overseas, some former internationals with Fijian heritage and local-based players. Crucially, the sevens players, currently preparing the defence of their Rio gold medal at the Tokyo Games this summer will also have the chance to remain at home rather than move abroad to earn money from their rugby talents.
O’Connor told RNZ: “They’ve indicated now that they would like to play for sevens and then switch over (to the Fijian Drua), so it’s already starting. Players we would have lost after the Olympics now have the opportunity to stay back and switch to fifteens. Every kid now who wakes up has a new dream: to be part of the Fijian Drua and to play professional rugby at home and not leave their families and go to a different environment.
“It’s not only a dream for our players, it’s a dream for the match officials, coaches and so-forth – it’s a total pathway for us which has been missing for long.”
O’Connor said the announcement was timely, with Fiji’s domestic provincial competition kicking off last weekend.”We’ve already identified talents that we will sign locally and most of them are already Flying Fijians and playing domestically, locally. Now we will engage other players. Our early discussions they were all around having about 16 overseas-based players and 16 local-based players.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
A distinct discomfort with the officiating they were probably selected from the local IRA narcos branch along with the commentators bloody fly tippers.
1 Go to commentsWow, never thought I would read that
1 Go to commentsExcellent match. Great to see Keenan and Ryan back for Leinster. Super result for Ulster. Season is turning around.
1 Go to comments“We need eight or nine new players, who are hard-wearing and durable and experienced Premiership performers”. So why are they scouting a retired fullback who himself admits that his “body is broken”?
1 Go to commentsBrumbies hand, knocked a Crusaders hand. Therefore, knock on in goal. Crusaders, goal line drop out should’ve been awarded. most likely after that 24 each at full time, so extra time would’ve been the right an entertaining outcome. Act Jim
1 Go to commentsSpeell cehck
1 Go to commentsColeman is gaawwwwnnn.
1 Go to commentsnext SA head coach?
3 Go to commentsGreat try by van Poortvliet.
1 Go to commentsThey have been cruelled by injuries but almost nobody (Sevu Reece and Fletcher Newell big exceptions) has played above himself which regularly happened before. Surely Scott Robertson had maintained the recruitment programme and it looks like a reasonable squad. Last in this competition will stall a lot of careers. Penny seems likeable. But it’s not enough even though this was better. We haven’t been good enough and it’s not helped by the “it’s been 15 years since… “etc “after nearly every match. Seems somehow a soft gifting of something once valuable. Kieran Read giving comments last week almost choked describing the easy surrender of possession by the forwards. I’d love to think that the senior players some of whom are back can show enough pride in the jersey to test the Blues next week.
3 Go to commentsWho will Joe select for the back three with so many in form candidates? Just hope he doesn’t get shafted like Dave Rennie and to a lesser extent Deans.
6 Go to commentsAlways reluctant to blame a coach when losses rack up, but Penney must go. The backline is dysfunctional and the coach must carry the can. No cohesion, no idea and in many cases, minimal skill. The trains out of Roma St depart faster than the ball from Crusaders’ set pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if the forwards went on strike.
3 Go to commentsAdding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
6 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
5 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
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