Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) Board chairman John Sanday has highlighted the Union’s ambitious plans as Fiji prepares for an exciting year ahead in rugby.
“Well, I think the main thing next year is the Rugby Nations Cup, that’s the one that’s very interesting. And the big thing is for us, as Fiji, it’s our first time, we’re going into the global commercial space, the globalized world of rugby, and we’ve just come back from the northern tour.
“Whilst players were playing on the field, we were playing in boardrooms and meeting rooms with the big nations, and we’ve learned a lot from that in terms of how the big, major, tier one unions run the game.
“So that’s what we’re bringing back to today. Start sending that message back, guys, we need to start be playing at this level as an organization,” Sanday said.
He stressed the need for clubs to adopt a professional approach to their operations.
“Then, for instance, clubs need to start approaching their individual weekly games on a profit and loss basis. They need to start projecting profit and loss, what kind of crowd level is coming in, what kind of profit we generate, what kind of surplus we generate, and then, you know, the next week, these are the things we learned last week. How do we make it better next week?”
Sanday emphasized that professionalization would be an ongoing learning process.
“It’s about the professionalization. We want to send that message down, some of the work we’re doing with the branding at the global level, with the data analytics at the global level, which I’ve explained today, we want to bring that down to the unions, to the club, so that the clubs, the unions, we all playing at the international best practice time.”
Looking ahead, Sanday expressed confidence in Fiji’s growth on the global rugby stage.
“It’s going to take some time next year, but we’ve been together that time we lift all our boats, and then we’ll truly become tier one, and we’ll truly will win the World Cup.”
With a clear focus on professionalism, strategic planning, and learning from the world’s top rugby nations, Sanday’s message signals an exciting era for Fiji rugby as it aims to make its mark on the global stage.
