Mark Evans warns Wales and Australia before RWC as Fijian Drua make big strides
The challenge facing Warren Gatland’s Wales and the Wallabies under Eddie Jones at the Rugby World Cup has suddenly become even more daunting thanks to the significant strides made by the Fijian Drua in the Super Rugby Pacific championship and the heart of the improvement is Welshman Mark Evans, who admits he is getting increasingly nervous about his nation’s chances in the build up to France 2023.
Evans took up the challenge of helping the Drua find stability as chief executive by ensuring the franchise could be truly competitive under head coach Mick Byrne and they have made history by earning a quarter-final match against the mighty Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday. Evans, who formerly held key roles with Premiership giants Saracens and Harlequins, expects the Drua to provide a large contingent in head coach Simon Raiwalui’s Flying Fijians at the World Cup, giving the squad a continuity that has never been present before.
With five warm up matches and a host of European based Fijian players excelling this season, the warning lights are flashing for both Wales and Australia who have huge question marks over their ability to emerge from Pool C which also includes the dangerous Georgia and minnows Portugal.
Evans told RugbyPass from his home in Fiji: “Part of the project here was to improve the national team and while I have divided loyalties when it comes to the Rugby World Cup, the Drua will have an impact on how the Flying Fijians go in France. Just look at the back five Fiji could put out in France; Sireli Maqala (Bayonne), Semi Radradra (Lyon), Jiuta Wainiqolo (Toulon), Waisea Nayacalevu (Toulon) and Josua Tuisova (Lyon) and that is with shifting Levani Botia to No7. It is a serious team and Simon Raiwalui is a really good coach and selector with a great team of coaches.
“Of course Australia and Wales are the big teams in the pool but I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if Fiji qualify for the knock out stages. Certainly, they have a chance and what has been missed by many people is that the Flying Fijians have five warm up games; Tonga, Samoa, Japan, England and France. Fiji do well at World Cups because it is only time the players get time to prepare and this time you have the cohesion of the Drua players plus those games to integrate everyone before you even get to the tournament.
“They are going to be a good team and Drua will probably have 13 or 15 of the 33 man squad and that is a big change for Fiji to have nearly half the squad playing regularly together – just as like the Super Rugby Jaguares side helped Argentina.
“Peter Horne and World Rugby deserve lots of praise for putting years of work into this and refused to give up despite challenges like poverty and governance issues. They get a lot of stick but should be credited for the work with Georgia and Fiji and by the 2027 World Cup it is will be really, really interesting.”
Evans insists the Drua will not be daunted by the challenge of taking on the Crusaders who are going for a fifth successive title and while his team has done well at home, they are yet to translate that into regular away wins this season. “Our target in year two was to qualify for the finals which I thought was a stretch but felt it was realistic if we had a good year and we have come on and had a decent one – it’s not over yet,” he added.
“The most important metric is team performance and we have won six so far – five at home – and we are playing better because we have had a year together. Only three of the team had played professional rugby before last season and so you would expect an improvement in the second year because of better cohesion, a home base on the islands, living at home, stable coaching team and S&C, better discipline and off field behaviour with an improvement in the penalty count.
“We are a strong scrummaging team with all of our props fit and the lineout has improved but could be even better while our ball retention in contact is better and credit for this goes to Mick (Byrne) and the coaches. We are starting to see the results of that work and while we still have weaknesses, we are fitter and that could also be better.
“Ball in play time against the Waratahs was 46 minutes and that is high and while we lost, it was a great game and we will be fitter next season. We operate with 37 players with ten development and we have one slot left for 2024 and six coming up into the senior squad.
“We are now getting enquiries from Fijians overseas and there are over 200 Fijians playing abroad. We will lose Kalaveti Ravouvou going to Bristol and Joe Tamani heads to Colomiers because they announced moves before the season and I wonder if they would be going now. Previously, if you wanted to play professional 15-a-side you had to leave because there was no team.
“Most players between 16 and 19 years of age go to Australia, New Zealand, France or Japan. In France they become French qualified under their JIFF (Joueurs Issus des Filières de Formation) rules and they can become naturalised in New Zealand and Australia. Can we stop that entirely? Probably not, but can we reduce it? – yes. A lot of French scouts come for the schools competition which is huge and there are number of Fijian youngsters about to get into Top 14 squads from the espoirs.
“Those players went to France when there was nothing to stay for in Fiji and that will be reduced because there is an alternative route.”
Crucially, off the pitch, Evans is signing deals with domestic sponsors for the Drua with the television impact particularly impressive. He explained: “Financially, you can definitely run a team here because there is a big enough commercial sector in Fiji and the penetration of rugby is so enormous you become an option for consumer facing brands. Crowds are decent and the television figures are amazing – huge. We estimate that half the population are watching the games live on any given weekend and in a UK context that would mean 32 million are watching you on TV!
“It is quite hard to get your head around that and this is the first year we have been able to estimate that 400-500,000 are watching live in Fiji where a third of the country is under 18. Going to the Crusaders is a wonderful opportunity and while there is no pressure on us, Fijian fans now think we are going to win the tournament.”
How does the former Harlequins CEO view the impending loss of London Irish from the Premiership and the ongoing financial problems in the English Premiership. “The model is broken and I have been banging on about this for some time: “ he added. “I blame the clubs as much at the RFU and we could have fixed it and that is on all of us.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Like others, I am not seeing the connection between this edition of the Crusaders and the All Blacks future prospects under Razor. I think the analysis of the Crusaders attack recently is helpful because Razor and his coaching team used to be able to slot new guys in to their systems and see them succeed. Several of Razor’s coaches are still there so it would be surprising if the current attack and set piece has been overhauled to a great extent - but based on that analysis, it may have been. Whether it is too many new guys due to injuries or retirement or a failure of current Crusaders systems is the main question to be answered imo. It doesn’t seem relevant for the ABs.
3 Go to commentsharry potter is set in stone. he creates stability and finishes well. exactly what schmidt likes. he’s the ben smith of australian rugby. i think it could quite easily be potter toole and kellaway for the foreseeable future.
5 Go to commentsThis is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to commentsThanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.
21 Go to commentsWhat a load of bollocks. The author has forgotten to mention the fact that the Crusaders have a huge injury toll with top world class players out. Not to mention the fact that they are obviously in a transition period. No this will not spark a slow death for NZ rugby, but it does mean there will be a new Super Rugby champion. Anyone who knows anything about NZ rugby knows that there is some serious talent here, it just isn’t all at the Crusaders.
3 Go to commentsI wouldn’t spend the time on Nawaqanitawase! No point in having him filling in a jersey when he’s committed to leave Union. Give the jersey to a young prospect who will be here in the future.
5 Go to commentsIt was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
7 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to comments