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Fiji swoop for dual code international Barrie-Jon Mather
Barrie-Jon Mather, who played rugby union for England and rugby league for Great Britain, has the job of ensuring the Flying Fijians build on their 2023 Rugby World Cup success by helping to fill the void created by the departure of Simon Raiwalui, the head coach.
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Interviews are currently taking place to find a replacement for Raiwalui who is now working for World Rugby with Mather appointed as Fiji rugby’s new High-Performance Unit (HPU) general manager, alongside Alana Thomas and former Flying Fijians hooker Bill Gadolo .
Mather told the Fiji Times: “I am excited to work with all the great guys here and build on some of the success the Flying Fijians and Fijiana had recently. What we really want is to repeat the success we’ve had the last few months and build on the really good work that Simon and the rest of the team started so that this is not a one-off but ultimately beating England or Australia should become an expectation from the fans and players most importantly.
“That’s the level that they need to be playing week-in and week-out so if we can help with the systems and policy in place then that’s what we are here for.”
Mather, formerly the high performance director at the NSW Institute of Sport, played once for the England rugby union team under Clive Woodward, ending up on the losing side when chasing a Grand Slam title when England were beaten by Wales at Wembley in 1999 with Scott Gibbs scoring a famous try.
Mather was playing for Sale when capped by Woodward and wants to ensure Fiji continue to make significant strides, aided by the success of the Fijian Drua in Super Rugby Pacific and the Fijiana team. “I want to go around to meet the unions, the stakeholders and try to get a sense of where Fiji Rugby is at nationally, and then we’ll go forward from there.
“There’s a little more work we’ve got to do in terms of the gyms and some of the facilities access for the Unions to make sure that they get what they need as well. HPU shouldn’t be a stand-alone unit, it needs to work with the Unions, identify the players and coaches so that we can have a more Fijian flavour to the Union as well.
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“I always looked out for the flair and passion for the game that they had but I think this last 18 months with the involvement in Super Rugby and Super W, there’s been a real steel to them, and time has worked wonders with their coaches and players. They have progressed and it’s impressive to see.”
Mather played rugby league for Wigan and Castleford but started as a union player and played in the same England schools side as Matt Dawson and Richard Hill who went on to win the 2003 World Cup.
Comments on RugbyPass
Pacific Lions, cry me a river
125 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
125 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
125 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
125 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
125 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
125 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
125 Go to commentsHo hum.
125 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
125 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
125 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
125 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
125 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
125 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
125 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
125 Go to commentsAnd they came from behind to win two big games before the final. No one can say what would have happened. Had the boks gone behind the game plan changes and the result may changes. Ifs and ands are irrelevant. The boks won. Neutral critics enjoyed the games they played. Its not a popularity contest. Get over it and move on.
125 Go to commentsI'm happy for the people of SA to get a second WC. And I mean that. I was very disappointed with this man's “stand on the hand” incident with Josh Van Der Flyer (Ireland). Ireland's downfall in the last WC was they did not rotate their first 15 as the head coach probably should have. That said, I'm happy for SA and genuinely hope it lifts the mood in their country. Ireland did beat them in the first match of the tournament. And before the trolls start trolling ….. please don't bother. Etzbeth said recently that the Irish players said after the match “see you in the final”…..this was actually wishing the SA team the best of luck in the rest, the Irish team were not dismissing the AB’s. This is what Etzbeth was implying. But he was wrong. I no longer live in Ireland. But I hope to see them lift that cup before I pass. Anyway, congratulations SA. 👍
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