The current United States of America rugby sevens coach Mike Friday was shortlisted for the Vodafone Fijian 7s coaching job.

This was revealed yesterday by the Minister for Youth and Sports Laisenia Tuitubou indicating that Friday had fulfilled all the criteria set by the Fiji Rugby Union.

However, FRU declined to take him on board because of the conditions he had set.

“The first chance was given to Mike Friday as he had fulfilled the criteria but he had lots of conditions with it,” Tuitubou said.

“Ben Ryan came with another approach as he wanted to coach the Fijian team. He was not worried about money but was more concerned at how the Fijian players were training as they could not get the results.”

Tuitubou thanked Ryan for having faith in the local players.

“The amount of effort made by the players is evident in the series as they continue to play with that Fijian flair.”

He added that Fiji still have an advantage over other teams which includes New Zealand, South Africa and Australia who are professional in their approach.

“The games are more scientific with technical officials analysing the teams and coming up with strategies. This shows that in order to win you have to be more competitive.”

Tuitubou said rugby fans need to understand the hard yards the players do and the fact that they remain away from their families  most times.

“I request fans to back the team either they win or lose. There are lots of people that criticise the team but I suggest if they could come out and speak their minds rather than commenting from the back,” he said.

Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

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