The Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) board of trustees plans to retain Osea Kolinisau as coach for the Fiji 7s team for the upcoming rugby sevens season. This confirmation came from FRU interim chair Peter Mazey when asked about Kolinisau’s future.
Mazey expressed his support for Fijian coaches, stating, “Yes, of course. I’m very much a fan of having Fijian coaches and I know there has been a lot of talk about that.”
Kolinisau joined the team in March after many called for the replacement of Ben Gollings, following Fiji’s failure to secure a tournament title in the World SVNS Series. With just four months to prepare, Kolinisau implemented strict conditions, placing fitness as the primary requirement for all players, including Jerry Tuwai.
His changes had a noticeable impact on the players’ performance, leading the FRU to value his leadership highly. “We will be having that discussion with Oscar. His family still lives in America. The contract is just after the Olympics,” Mazey explained.
Mazey praised Kolinisau for stepping in at a critical time, saying, “I really have to thank Oscar; he came in at a very late stage as everybody knows and I think the changes that the trustees made have proven to be the right decision. The team Oscar put together, his coaching team was excellent, and it was great having Gareth Baber there. It was also interesting to see that the two last Olympic coaches were also there supporting him.”
Kolinisau, who captained the Fiji 7s team to a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, was assisted by former Fiji 7s star Setefano Cakau in the recent tournament. He focused on the team’s fitness with the expertise of strength and conditioning coach Ian Gibbons, consultant Naca Cawanibuka, and the support of 2020 Fiji 7s gold medal-winning coach, Gareth Baber.