Sir Gordon Tietjens knows the big challenge new Vodafone Fijian 7s coach Gareth Baber will go through in coaching the Olympic champions.

Baber, who was appointed as Fiji’s sevens coach last month, replaces Ben Ryan who won the World Sevens Series back-to-back and gold at the Olympic Games in Brazil.

Sir Gordon said he knows that Baber will be under a lot of pressure to deliver and that what he will experience will be far different from when he coached Wales and Hong Kong.

“They had a lot of interested applicants and the board has decided that he is the man for the job,” Sir Gordon said.

“He has a bit of sevens experience as he has coached Wales and also coached Hong Kong.

“Coming to Fiji is obviously going to be a lot different and be a big challenge for him coaching the Olympic champions.

“There is going to be a lot of pressure and big expectations and I know this because I have had that for 22 years coaching the New Zealand  sevens team.”

He said the world will be watching Baber and the experienced players on the team will likely step up to help.

“It will be a tough challenge for him but I am sure that the Fiji boys will help out,” he said.

“The team has enough senior or experienced players that will look after their side of things.”

Baber will officially take up his coaching position when he arrives in Fiji in January, next year.

Edited by Osea Bola

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