20 Oct 2011

Sport: Fiji Rugby to have new coach in place by January

11:35 am on 20 October 2011

The Chairman of the Fiji Rugby Union has blasted the country's dismal world cup campaign and says a new coach will be in place by the new year.

The 2007 quarter finalists failed to make it our of pool play at the World Cup and finished with an embarrassing 66-0 loss to Wales.

The FRU Board has just completed an inquiry into the teams performance at the tournament, where they interviewed Flying Fijians management, coaching staff and players.

The Board's Chair, Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga, says the style of rugby the team was asked to play at the world cup was ineffective and did not play to Fiji's strengths.

He says coach Samu Domoni has a lot to answer for.

"He didn't take charge of rugby when he's supposed to. He didn't act like the head coach - he let the assistant coaches dictate what was to be done on the field unfortunately. So there is a lot people who have got to answer for these and Samu is one of them. We've got to look for a coach that can play our style of rugby, irrespective of where they come from."

Colonel Tikoitoga says a new coach, Chief Executive Officer and restructured FRU administration will be in place by January.