FIJI Water Flying Fijians coach Mick Byrne believes that young players infusing new flair to the side would help address the exit of senior players.

Byrne shared these sentiments after Fiji’s Pacific Nations Cup win over Japan, where they won 41-17 last Saturday.

“We know that there’s a lot of senior players that did a great job last year in the World Cup, but over the course of the next couple of years, some of those players are going to need to be replaced and so it’s a great opportunity for us to do that during the PNC,” he said.

Byrne had injected new talent into the team to compensate for the absence of senior players that were unable to join the squad due to commitments with their respective clubs in Europe.

The side took on new players such as Vuate Karawalevu, Epeli Momo, Apisalome Vota, Moses Sorovi, Adrea Cocagi, Penaia Cakobau and Ponipate Loganimasi, all of them donning the coveted white jersey for the first time through the championship.

Meanwhile, in a post match press conference after their PNC win, he stated the team was in capable hands, noting their coaches and medical team were exceptional.

“We’ve got world-class staff, both our strength and conditioning program and our medical program is world-class,” Byrne said.

“And we’ve prepared the players well, we’ve got them in good shape.

“We’ve kept them on the field, we’ve treated them well through the medical area, we’ve worked them hard in the fitness area.”

While the Flying Fijians revel in their sixth PNC win, they advance onto the Autumn Internationals, where they face Scotland, Ireland and Wales in November.

The first match will be against Scotland on November 3. || Flying Fijians – Young players || Mick Byrne says young players can fill in for senior players.