The FIJI Water Flying Fijians team management is reviewing circumstances around Clermont flanker Peceli Yato’s decision to walk out on the camp last week.
Head coach Simon Raiwalui confirmed last Saturday after the side beat Tonga 36-20 that Yato had quit the squad and would not feature at the Rugby World Cup in France in September.
The 30-year-old veteran of the 2015 and 2019 World Cups had been training with the squad until early last week when he quit ahead of what was Fiji’s only home match in 2023. There were allegations on social media that Yato had a falling out with the team management.
“I shared what had happened during the post-match interview after Tonga, he had left because there was a situation.
“But I don’t really know about whatever’s going on social media, it’s probably all hearsay,” he said.
When asked if he would reconsider bringing Yato back into the squad, Raiwalui said he would await a review of what happened that led to the Nadroga man’s departure.
“We’re still reviewing what happened, so we will need to wait, and we should have a decision by the end of the week on what’s going to happen moving forward.”
Fiji Rugby Union special administrator Simione Valenitabua says the FRU Trustees trust the experienced management and coaching team to make decisions about the composition of the team when asked if they would consider bringing Yato back to the team.
