Transcript
GARETH BABER: As a developing coach you want to try and test yourself at the top levels. I'd been in the position for three years at Hong Kong...and obviously the Fijian one came up and I thought that it would be remiss of me if I didn't test myself or challenge myself, certainly to try and get myself in the process of getting near an interview. Low and behold I managed to get through that process and at the interview time we discussed very much what the future of Fijian sevens rugby was looking like and I was able to put myself in a position that they offered me it, so very pleased and obviously excited at the challenge.
VINNIE WYLIE: What do you feel you offer the Fiji sevens team?
GB: I suppose my experience in sevens rugby: playing for Wales, coaching Wales, obviously what I've done in Hong Kong recently but also my fifteens background in coaching the Cardiff Blues for seven years as well so I've got good experience in the coaching world and played international sevens rugby itself as well.
VW: In terms of that intimate knowledge of the set-up in Fiji, are you pretty well versed in what you're going to come across?
GB: No, in all honesty no...that's knowledge that I'm going to have to gain quickly. I've had a couple of conversations with Ben Ryan as well in the meantime and some good people in the Fijian Rugby Union are updating me with what's going on and I'll have to fit into that quite quickly. I know it's a challenge and I know that I'm going to have to use all my coaching resource to make sure that I'm keeping performance going, first and foremost, in the World Series but also then looking at what plans we can put in place for developing new generations of Fijian players and, similarly to what we've done in Hong Kong, in trying to establish some structures for sustainability as well - making them as consistent as possible and keeping them at the top of world rugby.
VW: You're taking over a team that you either stay top or you fall down so that's quite a daunting challenge?
GB: Yes, absolutely, but that's why I do it. I do it for the reasons of if I didn't like pressure and I didn't like putting myself and testing myself, challenging myself and others around me to get to those levels then I wouldn't be doing those jobs that we do and I think that all coaches go through that. That's the reality but that's the reality in any job anyway. They are top of the tree, absolutely, and my job is to ensure that I can coach them and ensure that they stay at that level, obviously. I'm sure it won't be as plain sailing and I'm sure there will be times when form is difficult to have but that's part and parcel again of the learning that happens within coaching groups and coaching environments. What my desire is and drive is is to capitalise on what's been done to date and put my own thoughts and processes in place to make sure that continues to happen and I can't say what the future is going to hold but I know that I back myself in terms of what I'm going to bring to it.
