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Mick Byrne named new Fiji head coach

Coach Mick Byrne of Fijian Drua loduring the round 12 Super Rugby Pacific match between the Hurricanes and the Fijian Drua at Sky Stadium on May 08, 2022 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Fiji have named Mick Byrne as their new head coach, ending a lengthy selection process to find Simon Raiwalui’s successor.

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Fiji have been without a coach since the end of the World Cup after Raiwalui stood down from the role, but Byrne has come out on top of a sizeable shortlist of candidates. His formal application for a long-term work permit was granted by the Department for Immigration on Monday.

The Australian is the current Fijian Drua head coach in Super Rugby Pacific and will continue until the end of the season while working with the national team as they prepare for matches against the Barbarians, the All Blacks, Samoa, Tonga and the end of year Tests.

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      Will Skelton touches on the wealth of talent that wasn’t taken to RWC 2024, and looks ahead. Watch Fresh Starts episode 1 on RugbyPass TV

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      The 65-year-old brings with him plenty of experience of the international arena, having worked as an assistant coach with Scotland, the All Blacks and Australia. He also brings multi-sport experience, having won an AFL premiership as a player with Hawthorn.

      He led the Drua to the Super Rugby play-offs last season, losing to eventual winners the Crusaders in the quarter-finals having beaten them earlier in the competition. This season, his side sit in seventh place in the table.

      The Fiji Rugby Union have emphasised throughout this process that their new head coach must have an understanding of Fijian rugby, and they believe Byrne fits the bill, saying in a statement: “Mick also brings a deep understanding and love for Fijian rugby proven by the progress and achievements of the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua.”

      Byrne will address the media on Thursday over his new role.

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      Comments on RugbyPass

      P
      PM 2 minutes ago
      Why ‘the curse of the Bambino’ is still stronger than ever at Leinster

      Ireland have beaten the Aussies on the last 4 meetings(2 in Aus 2 in Dublin). England have lost 2 of the last 4. To be fair England do have a great record overall against the Aussies.

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      GrahamVF 6 minutes ago
      'Flustered' Prendergast in 'system where decisions are all made for him'

      For me the most important failure is he doesn’t try to dominate in the tackle. If he does tackle it’s almost passive - like he allows the ball carrier to get next to him and he tackles in a slide down from the waist which allows the ball carrier dominance and go forward. He just doesn’t like the aggressive tackling aspect of the game.

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      R
      RedWarriors 7 minutes ago
      Why ‘the curse of the Bambino’ is still stronger than ever at Leinster

      The choking comment is disrespectful and disingenous and actually stupid. There were 4 evenly matched teams in the 2023 RWC. Due to the ridiculous draw two of those 4 great teams were to be eliminated in the QF. Ireland were involved in two of teh greatest matches in World Cup history. They died with their boots on as did France. Try and get your facts straight before the insulting and disparaging comments.

      66 Go to comments
      J
      JWH 27 minutes ago
      Why former All Black believes the Wallabies will beat the B&I Lions

      Okay now combine those national teams and super rugby teams, and you get a B&I Lions match. Its not the best 100 vs. the best 100 from each nation, its the best 30. And right now, I think the Wallabies have a better 30 man squad than the Lions.

      22 Go to comments
      f
      fl 27 minutes ago
      Same criticism rings out over Sam Prendergast as one debate put to bed

      the aussies probably will get well beaten, but they’re not as bad as you make out.


      they were decent when Rennie was coach, and even though they were poor under eddie jones, considering he brought in effectively a new team in a world cup year, they actually weren’t that awful. It will go down as one of the worst coaching decisions in history, but the fact that so many young and emerging players were available to make that an option does speak to the depth in australian rugby. And since then things have seemed to be on the up, given results in super rugby.

      15 Go to comments
      J
      JWH 28 minutes ago
      Why former All Black believes the Wallabies will beat the B&I Lions

      When was the last time the Australians had a good coach, good players, good support structure?


      Also, 4/10 is a pretty good record against back-to-back champs.


      B&I Lions are no where near as good as this current Springboks outfit, incl fitness.

      22 Go to comments
      P
      Pablo King 50 minutes ago
      George Skivington talks up 'relative unknown's England chances

      It started as an ordinary Tuesday. I was checking my Bybit portfolio when an email popped up that looked like a legitimate alert from the exchange, warning of suspicious activity. Without thinking, I clicked the link and entered my credentials. The moment I hit submit, a sinking feeling hit me. Within minutes, my Bitcoin wallet was completely drained.Losing 3.2 BTC, worth nearly $200,000 at the time, wasn’t just a financial blow. It felt like a personal violation. I couldn’t believe I had fallen for a phishing scam. I spent days digging through forums, contacting Bybit support, and even filing a police report. But the responses were disheartening and repetitive. Crypto transactions are irreversible. Scam victims rarely recover their funds. The helplessness was crushing.I barely slept. I kept replaying that moment over and over in my head. Why did I click the link? Why didn’t I double-check? The guilt and frustration consumed me. Friends tried to be supportive, but most didn’t understand the emotional and financial weight of what had happened. I had always been cautious with security. Yet in one distracted moment, everything disappeared.Weeks later, while scrolling through Reddit threads on crypto scams, I stumbled upon several mentions of GRAYWARE TECH SERVICES . At first, I was skeptical. It sounded too good to be true. But the testimonials felt genuine, and I was desperate. I decided to reach out.Their response was fast, professional, and surprisingly empathetic. They didn’t promise miracles. Instead, they explained their method: tracing blockchain transactions, identifying potential exchange cash-outs, and working with legal and crypto entities to freeze and recover funds.I sent them everything I had wallet addresses, transaction records, screenshots and waited. Just a few days later, I received an email that left me speechless. They had successfully traced and recovered all of my stolen Bitcoin.I couldn’t believe it. After being told repeatedly that the funds were gone forever, here they were, back in my wallet. It felt like waking up from a nightmare. GRAYWARE TECH SERVICES didn’t just help me get my money back. They restored my sense of security, my trust, and my peace of mind.I share my story now in case someone else out there is feeling the same panic and hopelessness I once felt. There is help. And sometimes, there is even a second chance.You can reach them on whatsapp +18582759508, web at ( https://graywaretechservices.com/ )    also on Mail: (contact@graywaretechservices.com)

      1 Go to comments
      M
      Mitch 53 minutes ago
      Elegant or turbulent? Can Les give the Wallabies the Kiss of Life?

      Mark Bosnich says stats are like bikinis - they show you a lot but they don't show you everything. England's Director of Cricket Rob Key says ‘stats are for prats’. Another stat not worth reading into is that the Reds have the best tackle completion stats in the competition.

      3 Go to comments
      B
      BP 1 hour ago
      Why ‘the curse of the Bambino’ is still stronger than ever at Leinster

      It blows my mind when I see articles about Leinster fans and some pundits blaming the coaches for the loss. I recon the Irish are sitting with a massive choking issue…..until they can get that right they will win no big tournaments or games. They will have to learn fast -WC is coming and surely they don’t want to go home at the QF AGAIN……

      66 Go to comments
      T
      TokoRFC 1 hour ago
      Why ‘the curse of the Bambino’ is still stronger than ever at Leinster

      Good work getting some proper analysis out so quickly Nick, enjoyed this! But what do you mean by “vertical axis”?


      Their attacking channel of kickoffs and phase play?

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      GrahamVF 1 hour ago
      New Zealand and South Africa crowned SVNS Series champions in LA

      Absolutely agree - I have no doubt that they will make a much bigger thing of the end of the league results next year and hopefully have a proper Sevens’ Shield presentation, then go to the winner takes all between the top eight teams. It also gives smaller teams the possibility of winning the big one. In South Africa, the Currie Cup used to be decided on who finished top of the log - then the marketing guys saw the potential in a winner takes all semis/final. So in those comps as in the Super Rugby league table you can finish fourth in the round robin and still win the ultimate prize - and that’s where a lot of top sides come short. Knock out rugby has a different mindset as is evidenced by Leinster in the 15’s game. NZ had the same problem. They swept everything in front of them but took 24 years to win their second WC.

      16 Go to comments
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      Pablo King 1 hour ago
      Don't get out over your skis on the Highlanders

      It started as an ordinary Tuesday. I was checking my Bybit portfolio when an email popped up that looked like a legitimate alert from the exchange, warning of suspicious activity. Without thinking, I clicked the link and entered my credentials. The moment I hit submit, a sinking feeling hit me. Within minutes, my Bitcoin wallet was completely drained.Losing 3.2 BTC, worth nearly $200,000 at the time, wasn’t just a financial blow. It felt like a personal violation. I couldn’t believe I had fallen for a phishing scam. I spent days digging through forums, contacting Bybit support, and even filing a police report. But the responses were disheartening and repetitive. Crypto transactions are irreversible. Scam victims rarely recover their funds. The helplessness was crushing.I barely slept. I kept replaying that moment over and over in my head. Why did I click the link? Why didn’t I double-check? The guilt and frustration consumed me. Friends tried to be supportive, but most didn’t understand the emotional and financial weight of what had happened. I had always been cautious with security. Yet in one distracted moment, everything disappeared.Weeks later, while scrolling through Reddit threads on crypto scams, I stumbled upon several mentions of GRAYWARE TECH SERVICES . At first, I was skeptical. It sounded too good to be true. But the testimonials felt genuine, and I was desperate. I decided to reach out.Their response was fast, professional, and surprisingly empathetic. They didn’t promise miracles. Instead, they explained their method: tracing blockchain transactions, identifying potential exchange cash-outs, and working with legal and crypto entities to freeze and recover funds.I sent them everything I had wallet addresses, transaction records, screenshots and waited. Just a few days later, I received an email that left me speechless. They had successfully traced and recovered all of my stolen Bitcoin.I couldn’t believe it. After being told repeatedly that the funds were gone forever, here they were, back in my wallet. It felt like waking up from a nightmare. GRAYWARE TECH SERVICES didn’t just help me get my money back. They restored my sense of security, my trust, and my peace of mind.I share my story now in case someone else out there is feeling the same panic and hopelessness I once felt. There is help. And sometimes, there is even a second chance.You can reach them on whatsapp +18582759508, web at ( https://graywaretechservices.com/ )    also on Mail: (contact@graywaretechservices.com)

      4 Go to comments
      S
      SF 1 hour ago
      'Devastating': Stephen Donald weighs in on the next All Black 10

      Now why the heck would you like to see a “fish out water” in the 10 jumper for the AB’s?

      4 Go to comments
      A
      Alex 1 hour ago
      New Zealand and South Africa crowned SVNS Series champions in LA

      I'd say the shield should be given greater weighting then.

      16 Go to comments
      A
      Alex 1 hour ago
      New Zealand and South Africa crowned SVNS Series champions in LA

      Sevens is very unique though. More like golf where a team can have a storming tournament and then not so much the next tourno. The nature of it really means (which is great for the sport) that it's very unpredictable. Kenya could get silver one week, then not make last 8 the next. As a result, it doesn't feel right that one tournament result defines the sevens season.

      16 Go to comments
      A
      Alex 1 hour ago
      New Zealand and South Africa crowned SVNS Series champions in LA

      Real winners were Argentina! The WHOLE season shouldn't be defined by one tournament. This is not one tourno but a SERIES of tournos. I just feel that's different to the playoffs of a SR/EPL/URC/Top14 season.

      16 Go to comments
      J
      JD Kiwi 1 hour ago
      Why ‘the curse of the Bambino’ is still stronger than ever at Leinster

      Good theory SK.


      Super Rugby and the northern comps have different strengths and weaknesses and I'm not saying one is better than the other. However the length of the northern season means that you have to either rest your best players a lot or run them into the ground, which leads to the issue you've described.


      One of the things I like about SR is that the test players get a longer off/preseason and only have miss a couple of games. So they are match hardened without being overworked.

      66 Go to comments
      J
      JD Kiwi 2 hours ago
      Why ‘the curse of the Bambino’ is still stronger than ever at Leinster

      Agreed, but I think he was saying that taking the kick for goal was 50/50, not picking Jordie.

      66 Go to comments
      E
      Ed the Duck 2 hours ago
      Why ‘the curse of the Bambino’ is still stronger than ever at Leinster

      Now that’s a match up that’s way too close to call, other than it’s gonna be a cracker, but Saints absolutely have a great shot at the title here!

      66 Go to comments
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