FRU hopes victories translate to funding

Fiji Rugby Union chief executive Manasa Baravilala maintains next month’s Europe Tour will go ahead as scheduled “with or without a sponsor”.

Speaking to FijiLive, the head of Rugby House admitted that they are still to secure a sponsor for their 4-match November Tour

“We do not have a sponsor but as I have stated before the Flying Fijians are touring UK at the end of the year,” Baravilala said.

And with the recent victories by Fiji’s representative teams, namely the Fijiana, the Fiji Warriors and the Digicel Fiji 7s team, in both the region and on the international arena, he envisions a better future for Fiji Rugby.

At the same time he admits the onus is on Rugby House and its entire representative teams to be consistent.

“There is a close coalition to winning and sponsorship. If we don’t win, no one wants to support a losing team,” Baravilala said.

“As I have said before, winning creates opportunities for us.  We need to win consistently, that’s the key.

“And that is what we are trying to do. We at Rugby House are putting down processes some are already in place as we create new ones. A lot of work needs to go into that before we can have the desired results.

“That is why it is important for us to keep focusing on process.

“We are working diligently on that and we hope that the investment we are doing now, translates into sponsorship coming on board.”

He said the Digicel Fiji 7s team’s recent victory on the Gold Coast stands testament that Fiji can still achieve greatness without the unlimited financial backing Tier 1 teams have at their disposal.

“What we lack in preparation we make up with heart.

“I’m hopeful that the performance of the teams not only today but moving forward that people understand that there is a new team and a new board at Rugby House who wants to improve our standards. We want to win games and we want to get the necessary sponsorship to enable us to compete at this high level.”

By Lavenia Vuadreu