Sport: Fiji 7s coach ready for crash course on arrival

11:34 am on 24 December 2016
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The incoming Fiji sevens coach admits he will have to get up to speed quickly when he starts his new role in January.

Welshman Gareth Baber finished his roles as head coach of the Hong Kong men's and women's sevens teams this month and will arrive in Fiji in the new year.


The new Fiji sevens coach Gareth Baber Photo: Andy Jones / Hong Kong Rugby Union / AFP

He's also kept in contact with interim coach Naca Cawanibuka, so he won't be coming in completely blind.
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"It's been good to talk to him and I think that it's evident in the way Fiji played in both Dubai and South Africa that he's got a good grip on the way that we want to play and so does the senior group of players that are playing there as well. I suppose my contact has been through Naca and obviously I've spoken to several people within the rugby union in Fiji as well."

"My knowledge of the Fijian players up until this point has been limited but I'm progressing that as quickly as I possibly can," he said.

Baber said he was encouraged by Fiji's performances in the opening two legs of the World Series in Dubai and Cape Town, where they finished second and fifth to sit behind South Africa in the overall standings.

With just over five weeks until the next leg in Wellington he says it will be a busy period familiarising himself with the players vying for selection.

"There is two tournaments that's going to go on in Argentina and Chile at the beginning of January, which there there's another group of players who are going to be going to that one, so that will give me more information on a wider group of players obviously before coming back into Fiji, where I will be prepping with 16 to 18 players who potentially could be playing in Wellington and Sydney."
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Gareth Baber says he's also hoping to resolve the Fiji players' lack of contracts before the World Series resumes next month.