With less than eight months away from the 2007 and 2023 Rugby World Cups, the Flying Fijians were without a head coach.

These were after the resignation of expatriate head coaches, Wayne Pivac in 2007 and followed by Vern Cotter in 2023.

In came, former Flying Fijians for­ward Ilivasi Tabua in 2007 and Si­mon Raiwalui for 2023. The results they produced were a quarter-final finish, the best so far at the RWC.

Now could we such thing happen­ing with our men’s sevens rugby team.

Such scenario was unfolded after the Fiji men’s 7s team’s poor perfor­mance at the HSBC SVNS, Dubai and Cape Town tournaments under head coach Ben Gollings.

Let’s not be fooled by our second place position on the Series stand­ing. The fact is that Fiji has not won any tournament since last year.

Definitely, not all is well at the Fiji 7s camp-and the results are a testa­ment to this.

Gollings was given his KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) when he was appointed head coach in 2021.

So far, he has achieved winning the Rugby World Cup Sevens title and gold medal win at the Pacific Games.

The Commonwealth Games gold medal still remains elusive and likewise winning the HSBC SVNS Series.

It is believed the last FRU board of directors had reviewed Gollings performance and he was given a last warning.

The current FRU interim Trustees led by Peter Mazey must demand for answers from Gollings on the team’s poor results.

This is an embarrassment when we take into account of our reputa­tion, as a two time Olympic cham­pions, three-time World Cup cham­pions and four-time Series champs.

While plans are still in the pipe­line to get Gareth Baber back, the FRU should consider looking at our local coaches.

Some of the notable names are Saiasi Fuli, Sireli Bobo and Police 7s rugby coach Sale Tubuna.

These coaches have proven them­selves over the years with their team’s consistent performance.

Investing in our local coaches will indicate the growth of the develop­ment done by the development unit at Rugby House.

The FRU should be realistic on their next decision. Are they finan­cially secure to contract Baber for the Olympics job, after all these fi­nancial discrepancies.

Engaging Raiwalui for the RWC job was the only available option with limited time and resources and he proved himself as a local coach in only 15 weeks.

Then FRU should give the same opportunity to our top local coach­es to create history, in six months’ time, if Gollings gets the boot.

That is where the test lies and the onus is on Rugby House to play their cards right. Fans are getting sick of being on the losing end throughout last season and the re­cent tournaments.

It’s time to turn things around in Perth, Australia, when the next tournament kicks-off next year from January 26-28, 2024.

Feedback: leonec@fijisun.com.fj