National 7s coach Gareth Baber saw red on Saturday. In fact, who wouldn’t in the wake of the indiscipline shown on the field at the annual Nawaka 7s tournament at Prince Charles Park in Nadi.
It marred an otherwise important tournament for the sport.
It forced Baber to urge club coaches to take responsibility in improving the level of discipline of players at local tournaments.
His call came in the wake of two players from the Police White team being sent off after a scuffle in the cup quarter-final against Raiwasa Taveuni during the 34th Fiji Bitter Nawaka 7s.
Several police officers had to run on to the field to control their fellow lawmen after Raiwasa Taveuni’s Manueli Maisamoa was knocked to the ground as tempers flared in the second spell.
Maisamoa received facial injuries and was treated by the medics at the venue. Watisoni Sevutia and Mesake Varo were shown the red card after the incident.
Ifereimi Tovilevu, Viliame Tivau, Meli Kurisaru and Mesake Tuinamena of Police White were also sent to the sin-bin with Raiwasa Taveuni’s Tomasi Balai during the tense game.
Police White finished the fixture with only four players on the field, eventually losing 17-0. Baber said he felt hurt watching the incident.
He said it was an ugly incident. “I was disappointed because Fiji Police White is a good team.
They have won tournaments previously. I get disappointed sometimes with the indiscipline, especially with what we saw in that game.
“Everybody was really upset, I was hurting from that, I must admit. I don’t want to see part of a game having that. Generally in Fiji we have to get better with discipline.”
Fiji Warriors defeated Fiji Barbarians 24-12 in the cup final on Saturday night.
The comments by the national coach come weeks after an earlier call for discipline to be raised as we prepare for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Clearly, we have an issue with discipline. Realistically, not everyone should be brushed aside as problematic though.
It is unfortunate that there are some players who will cast a negative shadow over the rest of the team with their indiscipline on the field.
Obviously, this will be a critical area that Baber and our local coaches must address.
If we are unable to fix this in our local tournaments, then it will be a tough ask at the international level.
That’s where players and teams are scrutinised and game-plans set to counter indiscipline.
In most instances, we are caught out because we wilt under pressure.
For every aspiring young rugger hoping to get into the national squad setup, learn from this, appreciate the need for discipline, sometimes under seemingly overwhelming circumstances, and you may just be able to take a massive step forward, if not for your country, for your team, and most importantly, for yourself as an individual.
