Now that the Vodafone Flying Fijians have qualified for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Tokyo, Japan, the job now is to set up a plan and keep the core group of players together.

Unlike other teams who have their players readily available in their countries, the biggest challenge Fiji faces is getting enough game time with players as the majority live overseas.

Head coach John McKee said it was important to keep the core group together.

“The one challenge we face is the availability of our players as the majority of them live overseas and play in their respective clubs,” McKee said.

“But we need to make sure we get access to our players and have consistent selection in test matches.

“Keeping the core group of players together is really important. During the 2015 RWC, we only had a few months to prepare whereas this time we have two years to prepare.

“So these boys need to be playing consistently as possible and lifting our standard to another level.

“There will be some talks with some countries in Europe regarding the players and we need to make sure they are readily available when we need them.”

While ensuring players get as much game time as possible, the other task for McKee is setting out a plan for the World Cup.

“After the PNC our immediate focus will be building up a detailed plan for the World Cup which is something I will need to do,” he said.

“We need to ensure that we are prepared as best as possible for the World Cup in the next two years.

“Qualifying for the RWC is only part of the puzzle, actually preparing and making sure you get everything right is the other part and one that needs to be planned out thoroughly.”

McKee said while they were happy to have qualified, they are still focused on the Pacific Nations Cup as it is not over.

“It’s not over yet, our next focus is against Samoa on Saturday,” McKee said.

“We need to make sure we keep the momentum going and get this game out of the way before we can start preparing for the World Cup.”

Meanwhile, Serupepeli Vularika will not make the trip to Samoa after he injured his hand on Saturday.

The Fiji-Samoa  test kicks off at 3pm at Apia Park on Saturday.

Edited by Osea Bola

Feedback:  justine.mannan@fijisun.com.fj