The Fiji Rugby Union is seeking answers regarding the underwhelming performance of the Fiji women’s rugby sevens team at the Paris Olympic Games in France. This sentiment was expressed by Fiji Rugby High Performance Women’s manager Alana Thomas during an interview with SUNsports.
The team, which won a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, opened with a 17-14 loss to Canada, followed by a surprising 40-12 defeat to Olympic newcomers China. Coached by Saiasi Fuli, the team now faces a daunting challenge against New Zealand. A victory would give them only a slim chance of advancing to the medal playoffs.
“It was a very tough start to the Olympics,” Thomas said. “The results after day one are disappointing. However, we will wait to discuss with the coaches and our programme manager who is with the team. The team had a good preparation leading into the Olympics, and reports indicated they were in good condition.”
Thomas also confirmed plans for a review of the Olympic teams in August. This review may result in the removal of Fuli as the women’s sevens head coach since they have not won any tournament in the HSBC SVNS apart from the Olympics.
“As with all tournaments, we conduct a review. We have a full Olympic review planned, similar to the processes most High Performance teams or sports undertake after a pinnacle event to review the cycle. This is scheduled for early August when the teams return from Paris,” Thomas said.
She also addressed allegations on Facebook by local coaches, claiming she had stopped the women’s team from camping and influenced their training programme.
“Before my appointment, players were contracted and placed in centralized daily training, rather than camps like the men’s team. After one HSBC series leg, we reviewed and decided to return the women’s team to a camp-based environment leading up to the Olympics. Training processes are discussed in reviews, but the staff are responsible for the on-field delivery,” Thomas clarified.