Baber: Talks ongoing with European clubs as gold medal pressure mounts
Gareth Baber knows all about the weight of national expectation as he attempts to mastermind Fiji’s defence of their HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series title and a repeat of the historic gold medal winning Olympic triumph at the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
Fiji’s 2016 Olympic Games gold was turned into a book by former head coach Ben Ryan and became an acclaimed film, Sevens from Heaven charting the amazing achievement by some of the World’s most talented, yet underfunded rugby union players, who seamlessly moved from village matches to an Olympic Games final in Brazil.
Now, Baber, who took over from Ryan as head coach after the Games, knows the entire Fiji nation is looking to him to match that momentous achievement in the New Year which earned the rugby mad country their first ever Olympic medal.
Baber is under no illusions about the task he faces and a ninth finish in Dubai was followed by fourth place in Cape Town leaving the squad with plenty of work to undertake leading into the next Sevens Series leg in Hamilton on January 25 when a change of format means the four pool winners go straight into the semi-finals.
Baber told RugbyPass: “Here in Fiji, sevens rugby is the lifeblood of the community, you then times that by a thousand when it comes to the potential of going to an Olympic Games and defending a gold medal. I know what John McKee ( who coached Fiji at the 2019 Rugby World Cup) went through and it is an expectation that lives with every national coach here in Fiji because of the talent.
“Has winning the gold medal been mentioned? Only every day! I have always tried to stay away from outcomes other people set for you, but my job is to keep the players’ feet on the ground and focused on what we have to do in the Series and we won’t get to the Olympics in the right place unless we do that. It’s one battle at a time.”
"When you get to quarter-final stages you wanna see both sides of your game workin"
Gareth Baber spoke after @fijirugby beat Ireland to secure their place in the semi-final at the #CapeTown7s pic.twitter.com/BR501vYVv6
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) December 15, 2019
With less than a year until the Olympic defence, Baber has been mapping out the route he believes can take them to another gold medal, although rivals such as South Africa, USA and New Zealand are putting together their own formidable squads for the Series. Toulouse-based Cheslin Kolbe, the live-wire wing who helped South Africa win the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, has made it clear he wants a crack at Olympic gold while the USA boasts the world class speed of Perry Baker and Carlin Isles to try and counter the natural flair of the Fijian players.
With Kolbe wanting to add his skills to the Blitzboks, there is considerable interest in which European based players will be released to help Fiji defend the title in Japan with the French based pair of gold medal winner Josua Tuisova (Lyon) and Semi Radradra (Bordeaux), two of the world class talents being mentioned. However, Baber believes it is vital for those players to appear at some stage in the Sevens series this season.
“There are supporters of rugby clubs who have watched coaches getting sacked and players leave and all different kinds of things, and part of that has been because of Saracens cheating. You can’t run away from it."https://t.co/VPK94FgWJZ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 29, 2019
“Anybody who is building a team to compete in the World Series and the Olympics needs mechanisms and weapons in your armoury beyond just having talent on the pitch,” explained Baber. “What we have in our favour in Fiji is that all of the boys have grown up playing sevens and coming back into the squad from the 15s game is not as difficult. However, there are elements that are needed for them to be able to compete at that level having moved into the 15s.
“That is something we would want to see during the Series and I have spoken to clubs in Europe about a few players being available and it is my job to create and keep that team ethos while integrating a couple of those European based players who have a particular skills set through the season. Boys who have played for me in the last couple of years like Josua Tuisova and Semi Radradra are keen but they are all playing for top clubs in Europe and primacy of contract is with those clubs. You would want to see those players in tournaments before the Olympics because you need to create that team ethos so that when they are under pressure they can work together.”
Baber’s planning for the Olympic Games has already involved identifying the squad’s training camp in Japan and he added: “Instead of ten tournaments we are talking 11 and you don’t really take into account the gravity of that last one! There is also a six week block of recovery and work that can be undertaken before the Olympics and it all enters into the planning.
“The planning is all aimed at getting the players to a position where they are able to be competitive throughout the whole year because momentum is so important and team development is a key factor along with getting things right in one-off tournaments. You need to have real squad depth to allow you to rotate players throughout the year and all of this is working towards getting the timing right for that 11th tournament in Tokyo.”
A major concern coming into the current Sevens Series was discipline on the pitch and the problem remains with captain, Paula Dranisinukula, Sevuloni Moceinacagi, Vilimoni Botitu, Meli Derenalagi, Waisea Nacuqu, Isoa Tabu, Kavekini Tabu, and Josua Vakurunabili all receiving yellow cards in the two tournaments to date and Baber may have to consider dropping those who continue to hurt the team’s chances. Baber said:” Discipline has really let us down. It is not the end of the World now, but it will be if we don’t do something about it.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Anna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to comments