The Fiji Rugby Union says it is keen on getting back Olympic Games sevens gold medal winning coach Ben Ryan into its setup.
Ryan, who is considered a hero after guiding Fiji to its first Olympics medal ever in 2016, is currently the director of elite performance with English Premier League football club Brentford.
He has served the France 7s team as a consultant and conducted mentoring sessions with a number of sporting organisations, including NBA clubs.
FRU interim CEO Tevita Tuiloa said while bringing Ryan back would not be easy, they hoped the Englishman’s influence and “veilomani” concept could help build Fiji Rugby’s image and take the organisation to new heights.
“I was planning to reach out to him,” Tuiloa said.
“But if he has to come back, he has to go through the normal process.
“We have to decide where he fits into the structure of the Fiji Rugby vuvale and obviously go to the (FRU) board.
“This involves finance, can we afford him? All those things will have to be factored before a decision is made.”
Whether Ryan will have a hand in the mentoring and coaching of national teams will be known later, but the task is to first get him to Fiji.
“I owe a lot of respect for him. He brought the country together in 2016 when we first won the gold medal in Rio,” Tuiloa said.
“Especially when we were going through Winston, it was very tough on a lot of Fijians.
“When we won gold in Rio, that was a defining moment for Fiji — it was a game of hope. Ryan did that through the ‘veilomani’ concept.”
SOURCE: FIJI TIMES/PACNEWS
