20 - 17

20 - 52

Tomorrow

15:10

Saturday

08:30

Saturday

10:10

Saturday

10:30

Saturday

10:30

Saturday

10:30

Saturday

10:30

Saturday

12:40

Saturday

15:05

Saturday

15:10

Sunday

08:40

Sunday

10:00

Sunday

11:10

Sunday

15:05

Sevens

Ben Gollings has degraded Fiji sevens squad claims ex wing

By Chris Jones

268 days ago

Terio Tamani of Fiji reacts after losing the 2024 Perth SVNS men's cup semi final match between Australia and Fiji at HBF Park on January 28, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Will Russell/Getty Images)

The latest failure by Ben Gollings to deliver an HSBC SVNS title at the Vancouver SVNS has seen another call for the head coach to be replaced with a claim he has “degraded” the team in the build-up to the defence of the Olympic Games gold medal in Paris this summer.

Former Fiji rugby sevens wing Vilimoni Delasau has once again piled the pressure on Gollings by repeating his call for double Olympic gold medallist Jerry Tuwai to step in and coach the team to the Paris Olympic Games alongside former sevens captain Sireli Bobo. “I just saw the news this afternoon and it is really disappointing,” Delasau told the Fiji Sun.

“I don’t know if he [Gollings] was sent to degrade our sevens [rugby] standard or what. I’m tired of what they [Fiji Rugby Union] are doing. They are keeping him [Gollings] there when he is not performing.

France 7s captain Paulin Riva on Antoine Dupont joining the 7s squad

“Sireli Bobo has proven himself time and again. I believe Jerry Tuwai should take the team to the Olympics. I don’t know if Jerry is ready to play as I believe he’s ready to coach. I think he’s past his prime as a player and I believe he will be one of the best coaches for our sevens team.”

His call for a major change in the coaching set-up comes after the Fiji men’s sevens team lost in the cup quarterfinal of the Vancouver SVNS. The Fijians were beaten 21-19 by New Zealand and earlier on they went down 24-19 to eventual winners Argentina in their final pool match.

Argentina won their third consecutive men’s title with 36-12 victory over New Zealand in Vancouver while France took bronze which means Fiji have slipped to third in the overall table behind Argentina and Ireland.

The fifth round of SVNS Series 2024 takes place in Los Angeles on 1-3 March with Fiji in the same pool as Great Britain, France and Canada.

LIVE

Comments

1 Comment

Dominica 267 days ago

BG to the OG. Have faith nothing is impossible with God 🙏

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Latest Features

LONG READ

Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones

The Irishman's abrupt departure left his players reeling and confused about their new rearguard action.

LONG READ

'Steve Borthwick hung his troops out to dry - he should take some blame'

The England head coach shoulders some responsibility for his side's disappointing autumn results.

LONG READ

Despite defeat in Paris, the real reason the All Blacks are feeling upbeat

Signs of progress for Scott Robertson and a resurgent Australia are reasons for optimism for an All Blacks collective

Comments on RugbyPass

Bull Shark 5 minutes ago

Sadness pervades as Gatland stands on the brink of Welsh exit

Not true. I'm a South African and I absolutely loved seeing the Wallabies beating England. And miss the Wallabies of old who were a devastating force with some of the greatest players of all time.

I hear quite regularly that Australians prefer Aussie rules, league, and cricket over rugby.

So again, seems like Australians are to blame for the state of the game in Australia?

16 Go to comments

Bull Shark 13 minutes ago

Let's be real about these All Blacks

I find Ben Smith to be an emotionally driven hysteric. So I question everything he writes.

He launched into the year about the ABs being back this year. For a "journalist" his opinions are based on the flavour of the month.

He's at least gone quiet about how sh1t the boks actually are. Although I suspect he's working on an outrageous article to that effect as we speak, to drive engagement after the end of the Autumn series, as we'll all be taking a break until the 6N.

22 Go to comments

Chesterfield 16 minutes ago

Michael Hooper reacts to Scott Barrett’s controversial late-game call

The dominant pack should be enforcing their superiority with maximum points and the psychological advantage of taking the lead.

You don’t get that by saying we’ll settle for three and try again you get it by scoring seven and trying again. Doesn’t come off every time?

No.

But if you’ve asserted dominance letting the opposition off and not trying to build a double score difference is wrong minded.

All blacks have traditionally played to build the unassailable lead not meekly win a single point victory.

11 Go to comments

Arnold 18 minutes ago

Let's be real about these All Blacks

Aaah. Ben Smith. Ever the unbiased, objective rugby scribe......NOT.

Unable to give credit where it's due, other than for the ABs, especially when it comes to the Boks. His contempt for them is tangible. If you want to " Get Real" about these ABs Ben, consider when they last beat the Boks??? For us Bok fans, beating the ABs is the only true measure.

22 Go to comments

Reader76 37 minutes ago

Let's be real about these All Blacks

"they [All Blacks] are nuggety and resourceful and don’t wilt. They are prepared to win the hard way, accumulating points by any means necessary."

Sounds like you're describing your arch-nemesis Ben 😁

22 Go to comments

CM 40 minutes ago

'Steve Borthwick hung his troops out to dry - he should take some blame'

This article only shows a part of SBs failings as England Coach. Firstly his reputation st Leicester was false, his SA and Welsh players won the matches not his coaching prowess. He has Wigglesworth as attack coach, someone who rarely attacked when playing. His player selection is awful, ignoring form players and sticking with failed internationals. He picks players that he knows and will be easy to manage for him. What on earth is Slade doing when even for Exeter he does not make line breaks with steppping, pace or guile, why on earth are Cole,George,Steward,Ford,Iseweke and a few other anywhere near the Team. Borthwick is awful as Head Coach of England.

1 Go to comments

Mzilikazi 41 minutes ago

Key Wallabies trio running hot a year after being left in cold

Good to be writing about a WB team that has beaten two 6 N sides in successive weeks, Brett.

Lolesio indeed is looking very comfortable under Schmidt coaching. He must feel as confident now as he was feeling in his spell at Toulon last year. It will be interesting to see how he does against Finn Russell.

30 Go to comments

J Marc 1 hour ago

'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Your unterstanding of the relation FFR LNR, is far better than the one in the article. For Meafou, there is an article on Skelton saying he is totally indispensable in the australian game.

In France they are often compared, and french game is often, but not always ,based on this kind of number 5. But , there are a lot of kind of play in France and in the world, and it's a blessing, because otherwise, the game would be boring.

On my other post ,which you replied, my intention was to explain with some historics facts the main importance, in France, of the championship.

But ,once again, I would prefer 3 games in NZ , with the better french players.

287 Go to comments

Ninjin 1 hour ago

Let's be real about these All Blacks

I said before the November tests that the AB's should go smash some Nh teams to find their feet and it seems that is just what they did bar France. Could have should have always sucks. Better to look to the future.

22 Go to comments