All about rugby by Allen Lockington

Submitted by AllenL on Wed, 03/02/2010 - 11:29am

There have been a few comparisons made of our rugby teams that played recently. One is coached by Samu Domoni and the other by Suva coach Inoke Male. I say our teams because they are our citizens.

Our teams played the Waratahs and the Otago Highlanders. The Highlanders felt the heat of the West and the might of the Suva President’s fifteen. I loved how the Suva team played.

One guy who was watching with us said, “Boy these guys must be thinking when they are playing, they must be envisioning the game plan as they play.” And for the other team, well the Waratahs were pretty tough. I feel for Sam. No doubt rugby fans in Fiji will be very critical and we can be really cruel when things don’t go our way. Most rugby fans always have a solution to how Fiji can win the World Cup. Heck I sit with a few of them every so often at the Lautoka Market and at home and we analyse the games during our grog sessions. I am always in awe of these people when we lay pen and paper on the mat and they draw game plans.

I tell these old timers, and some young ‘uns that they should lend a hand to the Fiji Rugby Union. They usually say, “Sa, we have some very good guys at Fiji Rugby Union headquarters, what we gonna go and do there just take up space.” But I wonder if the Fiji Rugby Union would open up and get the people to send in their thoughts? It won’t make them look small, at least when we lose we can all say, “oh, heck we were wrong.” After then the Fiji Rugby Union can say, “Now leave us alone because we are getting paid to do this.”

Because when you win everybody teams up and says hurray.When we lose, the coach stands out like a sore thumb. Poor guy. Anyway, I had mentioned this sometime before but here it is again. Will a team ever say, “Oh boy that game plan is so good we will thrash our opponents.” Can we ask our boys if they understand the game plan just before they run onto the field?

Right now should all of just us sit back and take what comes? We have been playing rugby since the game was introduced to Fiji and we must have a room full of drawing boards. Some of them will be pretty worn out and some will be broken in two, some in three. Oh and there will be some that are so new they don't have a scratch on them, maybe a little dent, but used nevertheless.

I don’t mean to be rude or anything but that’s how some of us think.

When George Simpkin came a few years back he taught us the very basics. Our natural flair was what took us forward. Now rugby is more than just a game. It’s about strategy and cunning. The rules have changed so much that it is free flowing and a joy to watch. Substitutes were used only for injury but are now strategic maneuvers and all about impact. Furthermore, the New Zealand Crusaders usually peak in the last 20 minutes of the game. I wonder how they do it.

It surprised me one day on radio when Satish Narayan asked Frank Boivert if an international coach were to coach Fiji. Frank’s answer was simple: “We will win the World Cup.” I don’t know much about Mr Boivert but I’m told he is a sports scientist. And all I know is that we have some very good rugby people in Fiji, a few of them drink grog with me in Lautoka but they'd rather leave everything to the experts at the Fiji Rugby Union. Our “rugby guys” would love it if Mr Boivert would visit us whenever he is in Lautoka.

It will be a thrill to meet a sports expert. One old timer is learning French.