Players need to manage their time well, says coach

The Vodafone Fijian Under-20 coach Salimoni Ravouvou is aiming for a spot in the Tier 1 competition. He made his intention known during their preparation for the Oceania Rugby U20 tournament to be staged in April in Gold Coast, Australia.

“This will be a busy year for the youngsters as they will try to fight for a spot for the final squad,” he told SUNsports.

“We the management are looking at keeping the old boys and then filter in the new ones.  For example many of our boys are turning 20 and when they are out of the team we have young players ready to fill in the gap so that’s what we’re looking at. So it will be tough when it comes to selection as we prepare for the Oceania tournament. We have Australia, New Zealand and Samoa so this will be hard but it will be our testing ground as we want to make it back to Tier one.

“Then we have the world rugby tournament for Tier two, we’re going up because Japan have dropped off. So our daily training begins now so we want to let the boys know that getting into the under-20 is not easy. You come through a system from Deans (Trophy) then to provincial that’s how it works but some have join straight from playing in the under-18 and that shows they have the quality and the ability to be in the squad.

“Most of these players in the extended squad are filtered into the FRU academy that is run by Bill Gadolo and assisted by Kele Leawere. This is the pathway to the Fijian Rugby Union academy. So all the practical, theoretical and classroom work are done by them so we are persistent through in the long run and to get up to tier 1, that’s where we want to be.”

Ravouvou said an area of concern he is working on is help the players manage their time wisely.

“To our players what we have noticed is how they manage themselves. We’ve got the talent and how we play our own brand of rugby but the weakness is how they manage themselves and discipline.

“Like how he wakes up in the morning, does his training, control his eating habits, the right time he sleeps and the main thing is his social behaviour how he interacts with his peers. He need to cut that down and stay focus.

“So now we all focus on their training and in a few weeks’ time we will have their fitness test to see where they stand and then a month before the main tournament we will name the team.”

Ravouvou added that 20 players were eligible from last year and they would be looking to fill only 10 positions. He also warned the old players that they have to pull up their socks and fight for their position. “If the players come in late or miss training then we will have to discipline them because they are other players who can take up their spot,” he added.

Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

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