U20 coach Osborne settles in

The Sports World Fiji Under-20 rugby head coach Andrew Tui Osborne had his first training session with the team at Namaka Public School ground in Nadi yesterday.

Speaking to SUNsports after their training session, Osborne said he was impressed with the talent in the squad.

"This is refreshing, to be on home soil and being in the environment where I am meeting the guys leading up to the session," he said.

"Just meeting the staff is exciting. I was really impressed with the talent we were working with and just moving for­ward into this week."

The Fiji U20 side flies out to South Af­rica on Thursday. Their campaign starts on May 21 against Georgia followed by hosts South Africa on May 26 and then Chile on May 28.

Osborne said the focus is on improving their defensive organisation and reduc­ing errors during training and game time.

"We just want to tighten up a few lit­tle things and fix a few errors here and there. We want to be playing in the right parts of the field, working a lot on our defensive organisa­tion and making sure we clean up that area of our game. This is a huge part of our game that we need to im­prove."

He said feedback from the players has been positive, with strong engagement and team spirit shown during training ses­sions and team meet­ings.

"It has been great, and the players have been receptive. We have had meetings post-training and pre-training. Having devotion in the morning with them is great, and just being around them dur­ing this camp has been awesome.

"Learning who they are, where they are from and the backgrounds, they come from, with players from Australia, New Zealand and locally, has been really good," Osborne added.

Background

Osborne served as Director of Rugby and Head Coach at College Station in Texas, USA. He brings a wealth of interna­tional coaching expe­rience to the role.

His responsibilities in the United States have in­cluded leading a rugby programme that en­hances training and talent development for national and interna­tional players, imple­menting data-driven coaching to improve team dynamics and player performance, and co-ordinating tactical strategies to drive continuous improve­ment and competitive standards.

Osborne also mentors players through personalised plans, recruits top rugby talent, generates revenue through stra­tegic fundraising events, and pioneers advanced coaching techniques and tactical frameworks.

Additionally, he orchestrates cross-functional coaching initiatives, aligning staff expertise with player development goals to maximise team potential.