Earn your jersey, Flying Fijians warned

Players must be physically fit and healthy if they want to represent the Flying Fijians, national men’s head coach Jake White has warned.

“It’s very difficult to compare a person who’s playing 80 minutes at La Rochelle versus a club guy who isn’t playing much, and then the stats are always in favour of the overseas guy,” White said.

“What I’ll do is work hard with the conditioning coaches to see how the player looks after himself and manages himself between now and when we get together in June next year.

“Basically, it doesn’t matter which club you’ve played at. It doesn’t matter how many minutes you’ve played. It doesn’t matter what your reputation is. I want to make sure that by June, everyone arrives here fit and healthy.”

White said Fiji needed to select the best players available.

Flying Fijians head coach Jake White and Fiji Rugby Union chairman John Sanday.

Photos: Asenaca Ratu

“It’s the best 33 players that will be going to the World Cup, and we need to find that best 33 players by the time we get on the aeroplane.”

He said Fiji needed to stabilise after its Pacific Nations Cup (PNC) campaign before building squad depth next year and preparing to compete at the World Cup with the best players available from Europe.

“My first priority is to build up a stabilising job now because we weren’t good in the PNC in the middle of the year,” White said.

The 2007 Rugby World Cup-winning coach said he would relocate to Fiji to spend time with the Fijian Drua, watch club rugby and work with the Under-18 and Under-20 coaches to identify emerging talent.

White also stressed the importance of restoring confidence, noting Fiji’s strong performance two years ago and its victory over Australia at the last World Cup.

He said improving the scrum and lineout would be crucial to giving Fiji a stronger platform against top opposition.

“If our lineout and our scrum are strong enough, we just get the ball and then we can beat anybody,” White said.

Fiji Rugby Union chairman John Sanday echoed similar sentiments, stressing that players should earn their selection rather than simply make up the numbers.

“We want people to earn it and not just to wear the jersey for the sake of satisfying their own things.

“I’m quite passionate about that and I want to set that standard very clear. We are here for business and we want to make it into the semi-final of the World Cup and even win the World Cup. So it’s all serious stuff,” he added.