THE Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) through its “Elite Player Pathway Development Program” are planning to groom and nurture current Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union (FSSRU) Coke Zero Deans players to become the backbone of future national teams.

FRU elite pathway manager Viliame Gadolo said this would be a very part of their programs with secondary schools rugby players coming through the pipeline.

“These same players will form the core of our national teams in the future, through this program we are nurturing them and we are assisting them with the optimisation of their talents with our “high performance programs”, ” Gadolo said.

“So the very best players in their different positions and also the very best players in the positions that we need to fill up the most are the ones that we will be selecting not only for the national team but also for the “high performance programs”.

With these pathways in place it has really answered the concerned raised previously by former Flying Fijian and Rugby Academy Fiji director Seremaia Bai, regarding the closing the gap of development from the Coke Zero Deans competition to the national level.