Last year in September I wrote about how Fiji rugby was going backwards and now I write to tell you all that Fiji rugby is no more.
It passed away in November 2012 after going into a coma that lasted four weeks.
It showed a bit of promise in the last week of November, beating Georgia, but it wasn’t enough. The Fiji rugby union was contacted and was told to pull the plug for the life support machine.
It’s a sad ending to a country which had everything to gain and nothing to lose. The cause of death at this point is unknown but fans suspect it has something to do with the Fiji Rugby union and the coach.
This is the story of Fiji rugby in 2012 and what exactly happened leading up to its slow and painful death in late November.
In December 2011, Sam Domoni, the man who was selected to lead Fiji to 2011 World Cup glory was fired.
The man who single-handedly brought Fiji from the skies it floated in 2007 straight to the depths of hell in 2011.
The man whose selection raised not only eyebrows but the whole forehead was fired after taking Fiji to what was regarded as the worst performance ever by a highly rated tier two team.
In January 2012 the Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) selected their new coach Inoke Male, even though there were many other better candidates.
The likes of now current Samoa forwards coach and former Fiji captain and hooker, Greg Smith, former Fiji captain and lock and current Racing Metro Manager, Simon Raiwalui and the most successful local coach in Fiji rugby history, Iliesa Tanivula, all applied.
Over 30 people from all parts of the world applied and yet FRU selected in-house.
Male promised to fix Fiji’s world ranking which went from ninth to 16th during the reign of Sam Domoni. The FRU than imposed a new rule whereby the national team will consist 70 percent of local players only.
This wasn’t looked kindly upon by overseas based players who wanted to don the national jumper in the upcoming Pacific Nations Cup.
Fiji played its first Test against Japan and barely scraped through giving Male his first win as head coach and then five days later, they took on the ever-improving Samoa who came out firing with a team of completely overseas-based players.
The local players from Fiji had no answer for these players and Samoa scraped in with a win due to the precision goalkicking by their flyhalf, Ki Anufe.
Fiji then returned home to take on Scotland in what was the biggest match for the national team but poor defensive errors and mistakes by mainly the local players cost Fiji the game and once again Fiji were beaten at home by a tier 1 team.
The fans were not at all pleased with the team’s performance in a game Fiji could have won had it fielded a more experienced team.
A week later Fiji took on Tonga and beat them convincingly, a victory that did put smiles back on the faces of the fans but not the critics who felt that this ‘local player preferential rule was denying the Fiji team the chance to be more competitive against teams ranked ahead of them.
The European tour in November was something fans and critics alike were waiting for and as predicted, the team selected for the tour consisted mainly of local based players taking places which should have gone to more experienced overseas based players.
18 of the 30 players selected were local based. Some of the major players that were not picked were Napolioni Nalaga, Timoci Nagusa, Sireli Bobo, Akapusi Qera, Jone Qovu, Seru Rabeni, Sisa Koyamaibole, Waisea Luveniyali, Campese Ma’afu, Graham Dewes and Gabriele Lovobalavu
Fiji’s first Test was against England, a game that was supposed to be played in 2009 but England’s Rugby Football Union decided to reschedule the Fiji game to after the 2011 Rugby World Cup and as compensation, gave Fiji rugby union a whooping £700,000 and instead scheduled Australia.
To this day, no one knows what happened to that money which comes to around FJD$2m. Akapusi Qera was called up after one of Fiji flankers was injured during training.
England, fielding their second string side, taught Fiji a lesson in rugby by thrashing them 54-12. A game where Fiji stood strong in the first 20 minutes then were completely blown apart for the remaining 60.
Fiji then played a mid-week game against Gloucester where Male decided to give more local players a chance to play against a top English club. Fiji led (18-10) on the first half but an assault by Gloucester in the last 30 minutes secured them a win.
Fiji’s next game was against an Ireland XV team where Fiji were going to play for for one of their fallen stars, former Toulouse centre, Maleli Kunavore who died earlier in the week.
His death wasn’t enough to ignite the Fijian players, whose lack of fitness and below-par performance gave Ireland a major win thrashing Fiji 53-0.
The nail in the coffin as Fiji had lost to two of the bigger tier one teams in quick succession.
Fiji’s last game was against a lower-ranked tier two team. A game Fiji had to win to bring pride back to a nation which in previous years played with pride but now lack pride and commitment to the national jersey.
Fiji were down by a point (18-19) in the first half against Georgia, a team they have played against for the very first time in their 74-year history.
Fiji eventually won the game through good goal-kicking by local based flyhalf, Jonetani Ralulu who was the only locally based player who performed well for Fiji in the Europe tours. He also won the man of the match award for the game.
Inoke Male’s record as a coach this year was three wins out of seven tests which is 42 percent. His predecessor Sam Domoni’s winning ratio was 31 percent (six wins in 19 Tests).
Fiji Rugby was definitely going backwards when Sam Domoni was coach but instead of going forward, the team is still going backwards at a slightly slower speed.
Fiji have not only lost their spirit, their confidence and their pride but have also lost their multitudes of fans who all wonder what happened.
Fiji’s biggest rival Samoa has become stronger with each Test and are now ranked seventh in the world, the best ranking for any island based team since the ranking system began in 2003.
Fiji has moved three spots up this year to 13th, but they are still a team that does not look like it will ever move forward.
There is a famous saying by Karl Marx, “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.”
What happened at the 2011 Rugby World Cup may have been a a tragedy but if its repeated again in 2015 and if it continues the way its going, as it seems likely, where would it leave Fiji Rugby?
Where to from now? Why isn’t the FRU taking the blame for our teams failure instead of blaming the overseas based players?
Now even the Fijian Sevens team is headed in the same direction and yet the FRU refused to take the blame as they are the ones who selected these inept coaches in both codes and yet its the fans who pay the price for the failure of FRU.
Maybe that was the nail in the coffin for the Fijian rugby team. As of now, no one knows what happened or they refuse to see what’s happening right in front of them, investigations are continuing.
The death of a much beloved rugby team would come as a surprise to many who love the sport but its memory will live on in time as we looks back at our success in years gone by.
R.I.P Fiji Rugby (1938-2012).
FijiFAN
Guest
I believe that both FRU and IRB is to be blamed. For instance, FRU fails to fully develop the abundance of local talents available and is rather good at making excuses and on the other hand IRB fails to protect many of these Pacific Nations that fall in the hands those big European club that abuse these nations through their power. And on the contarly, fijian player including other pacific islanders should be encouraged to join NZ or AUSTRALIAN rugby club as they are kind enough to release players for international duties.
Vhavnal
Roar Rookie
Domoni Jnr was the Fiji coach, his father was a former player, Domoni jmr played for the Tahs and played about 4 "matches" (not tests) for Fiji oh BTW, he was only made coach not because of his experience (or lack there of) but because of his BIRTHDATE. The CEO of Fiji Rugby then was a RELIGIOUS NUTTER who once predicted a Tsunami would hit Fiji, he even gave the time and date (Bill Gavoka) and he chose Domoni over other QUALIFIED candidate cause Domoni was born on December 25th. :\ He thought the "2nd coming of christ" would bring luck to Fiji...
atlas
Guest
Neuen - well done on that 'cut and paste' and claiming it as your own. "The near complete absence of secondary institutions . . . " and so on is a direct copy from the Te Papa (Museum of NZ) website. And quoted out of context. Again, well done.
Vhavnal
Roar Rookie
Fiji has a local competition, the DIGICEL CUP and then in every February, they play against 2nd string Super rugby teams from australia and nz in what is called the "Pacific Rugby Cup" The players in this team is WHOLLY LOCALLY BASED, a team each from samoa and tonga also competes. Fiji won the PRC this year and yet we were the worst team in the PNC and then the November tours. Local players are just not working..they just do not have the skills to play at the top level..even samoa and tonga selected their BEST OVERSEAS BASED players in the PNC and the November tours.
allblackfan
Guest
Six, its 250km from Suva-Nadi (not even halfway across the main island). Fiji IS NOT the Cooks Islands. Secondly, you state Fiji has no local or regional competition -- Fiji's regional opponents include Samoa and Tonga (you may have heard of them) and even the Maori. Thirdly, Fiji's farebrother Cup is contested by 14 provinces (last time I checked) with a second challenge trophy contest contested by up to another 12 smaller provinces (I believe that's still running but I may be wrong). If you doubt the validity of their provincial competition, we should go to Fiji during the winter season and I can take you to a Naitasiri-Rewa or Suva-Nadi game game. The pace of the game and the physical intensity of some of their hits is outstanding. Fiji''s provincial rugby competition inherents traditional rivalries that date back thousands of years. The big schism is east vs west (polynesia vs melanesia) -- Suva/Rewa are eastern teams and Nadi/Nadroga are western teams. Naitasiri and Rewa are eastern teams but Naitasiri is a mountain (highland) team while Rewa is coastal. Another rivalry! This schism is also evident in racial terms -- fijians from the east are more like Polynesians while those from the west are more like melanesians. There is no love lost between these teams when they are on the field, believe u me! How many provinces does Aust rugby have? The Islands' inability to keep their players' home is structural ie lack of economic muscle and maybe impossible to overcome. But they are not alone: NZ faces this problem as well (but to a lesser extent). The Island unions are in good company
Vhavnal
Roar Rookie
yes i keep telling my fellow brethren the same thing, NZ doesn't want Fijian players , they rather have Samoans and Tongans so they should stop complaining really in respect to Fijian Players being poached..Indirectly, I'm saying Fijian players are just not good enough to be poached unless they come through the NZ development program and those that are good enough to be capped are already capped for FIji in 7's or 15's. :| After Sivivatu, it will be another 8 years atleast before another Fijian makes the All Blacks. there is nobody major coming up the ranks in domestic NZ rugby right now...
sixo_clock
Roar Guru
Concentrate on comprehending what I wrote. I'll spell it out for you, "Not wealthy enough to keep players to hand and qualify for the RWC". We all know about how aggressive the contracts with European Clubs are. Domestic provincial... what? You can drive around Fiji in a morning! How can you create genuine provinces from that?
allblackfan
Guest
Sixoclock, Fiji has a domestic provincial competition (which is more than can be said for Aust) called the Farebrother-Sullivan Cup and a strong club scene as well. Then there are the inter-service rivalries between army, navy and police.
kiwiinperth
Guest
Of the Islands NZ has had a governing role are... Western Samoa ...from 1941 before that Western Samoa was a German Colony, at the start of WW1 NZ took over the government of Samoa at the UN's request. Western Samoa gained self-government in 1962. Cook Islands ....In 1900, administrative control was transferred to New Zealand; in 1965 residents chose self-government in free association with New Zealand. Tokelau...NZ governed from 1926 and all carry NZ passports to this day. Nuie...NZ Governed from 1901 to 1964, all still carry NZ Passports So to go back to your reference...ion 1998 NZ had no influence on the Islands and therefore what NZRFU paid their own representatives is meaningless. I have no reference material on the education of the island nations under NZ control so will not speak of it but to include other islands such as Fiji and Tonga into NZ Colony is insulting to them as NZ had no input. NZ is not in any way responsible for the downfall of Fiji Rugby to generalise such a statement based on some educational aspects that NZ had no influence on is irresponsible. finally NZRFU never paid children money, the funds when given were to reimburse expenses when representing your country on overseas ventures. And to end with a statement that NZ forced people to not educate themselves is some sort of drivel I would expect from a left wing Marxist extremist based on vitriol diet and is full of diarrhea.
allblackfan
Guest
Sam Domoni Jnr was the former Tah (grew up with him). His father, Sam Domini Snr, was the fiji coach
atlas
Guest
@Neuen "The rest will NZ kidnap" In the history of All Black rugby, a total of eight Fiji-born players have represented New Zealand. Four have played at test level, four were 'tourists' who never played a test, as follows (source: http://stats.allblacks.com/asp/bornoverseas.ASP?stats_ID=8) Fijian-born players - All Black tests Fraser, Bernard Gabriel 1979-84 Tests : 23 Rokocoko, Josevata Taliga 2003-10 Tests : 68 Sivivatu, Sitiveni Waica 2005-11 Tests : 45 Vidiri, Joeli 1998 Tests : 2 Fijian-born players - All Blacks - tour matches only Jennings, Arthur Grahn 1967, Matson, John Tabaiwalu Fakavale 1995-6, Solomon, David 1935-6, Williams, Ronald Oscar 1988-9 Repeat after me, EIGHT. *********** Be interesting to see how many NZ born players have represented Fiji. Calls of player poaching !!!! Current Fiji captain Deacon Manu born same town as me, New Plymouth, also went to my former high school - as did current ABs Conrad Smith and Beauden Barrett. Deacon made his choice, as he is entitled to.
Jerry
Guest
What's that got to do with anything?
Neuen
Roar Rookie
This was in 1998 it will be lots more now. This is what NZ payed the blokes back then The professional grading system included four bands for All Black players: star ($125,000), established($75,000), current ($50,000), and former All Black players ($40,000). Below the All Black bands were bands for Super 12 players ($30,000), for senior NPC A players ($10,000-20,000), NPC development players ($2,000-5,000), New Zealand Colts players ($20,000), and New Zealand Under 19 Representative players ($15,000). Below these bands the NZRFU included bands for New Zealand representative school players ($10,000) and academy players ($20,000). That is a lot for school kids no wonder they are going school in NZ. The near complete absence of secondary institutions in New Zealand’s overseas colonies was not accidental. Colonial educators differed over whether there was any need for secondary education at all, or if there was, whether it should educate pupils with clerical and scholarly skills, or simply to be enlightened farmers, fishermen and labourers. At the same time as colonial rule required support staff and agents – especially when so few New Zealand officials could speak local languages – there were real fears that educating Islanders to a higher level might breed dissatisfaction, cultivate desires for employment or rights that were unattainable, or foment trouble. New Zealand was, and remains, a centre for teacher education and research. Not only Samoa, but the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau and many other places besides, especially Fiji, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Nauru, have fallen within New Zealand’s educational orbit. So off course the kids will live with their parents in NZ. Some of the new rugby nations gained test status, by playing against the All Black team, tours to New Zealand by Pacific Island teams did not gain national recognition by the NZRFU but were limited to playing against New Zealand Maori teams. It was not until 1980, on the fifth Fijian tour of New Zealand, that a Fijian national team played a test against an All Black team. The first All Black-Manu Samoa test was not staged until 1993. NZ basically marginalised the Pacific Island rugby union. Australia was basically the only team to play reguarly against Fiji and the other nations. The Maori players selected to the New Zealand Maori team on the tours to Fiji in 1999 were given a daily allowance of $50 by the NZRFU. So NZ are one of the main reasons why Fiji and others teams went into a downward spiral. Centralised contracting of players in New Zealand contrasted with the contracting of players by clubs in the northern hemisphere. Greater sporting and economic opportunities offered by these clubs encouraged increasing migration of players and coaches to the northern hemisphere. New Zealand-born players, on the fringe of All Black selection, including some with British eligibility, took up residence in the UK. Pacific Island players took up residents in New Zealand and Australia mostly. So if you force people by giving him them no education in their own country and the only provide it in your own, they will go to your country and their kids will be born there not because they wanted to but because they were looking for a better tomorrow and a job to feed their children. Then paying kids that amount of money I wonder what countries pay their school kids that amount of cash. Is that even legal?
sixo_clock
Roar Guru
This is really a tale of emergence. Emerging into the realisation that in the first world, when there is competition the best must be appointed. The coach has only the squad provided by the multiplicity of forces extant within his culture. As Fiji has no local or regional competition to keep its best players to hand surely that is the nub of the issue. Australia and New Zealand are doing what they can but between us both we cannot support 55-60 hopefuls which is the realistic minimum any Union would want. If the appointment has any of the stench of r@cism then to get rid of it, expose it. It is ugly whichever way it goes. If it is financial then find those people who will build wealth and employ them. Find a way to retain players that does not cause resentment etc. But above all be very realistic about your goals, how many Fijians, Samoans or Tongans would be invited to play in a World XV? Strategic planning is required. Just blaming a coach is easy, simplistic and protects everyone involved from the deeper issues which stay there like cancers till they are exposed.
Neuen
Roar Rookie
How many NPC or Super Rugby games did he play before being chosen for NZ Cheers
alex
Guest
abfan, I understand that bro, what Im saying is we shouldnt bother with international test level rugby. It's embarrassing. (I'll also admit that a lot of my comments are based on frustration :()
Mr Taylor
Roar Rookie
There was some uproar from some section of Fijian rugby and supporters that Domoni wasn't the best option and there were well qualified coaches in the running as well. He was chosen to coach Fiji well he was coaching some club in the Perth competition and might not have had a level three coaching cert at that stage. The way they got rid of former Wallabies Ili Tabua was disgraceful and the beginning of their downfall.
Vhavnal
Roar Rookie
yes he was a former Waratah player, long time ago, 90's..
Johnno
Guest
Wasn't Sam Domoni a Tah?
mark
Guest
Sam domoni wasnt the coach during 2007.