FIJI Water Flying Fijians head coach Mick Byrne has urged Fiji Rugby to focus on developing young front-rowers to strengthen the national depth in the years ahead.
“Fiji Rugby have got to start to unearth some young props, we need to start some sort of programme in Fiji where we’re bringing young props through and we’re starting to develop them and get them playing,” Byrne said.
He said the current system showed promise but needed more targeted work at the grassroots and development level.
“Look at the Warriors team there’s a couple of good young props out there, but it didn’t look like they were going to be ready to go to Super Rugby next year.
“There’s a bit of work to do in that area, so to bring a couple of young guys in and applying their trade in the north is a good opportunity for us and a good opportunity for them as well,” he said.
Byrne said the High-Performance Unit (HPU) and coaches should focus on mobility and fitness rather than just size.
” You’ve got to be mobile, and you’ve got to be powerful. I think there’s a young player that wants to be a prop moving forward. The tight head props in France are the highest paid players.
“If you’re a young prop in Fiji and you want to use rugby as a vehicle to earn good money and set your family up, if you’re a young tight head prop, get fit, work hard and the rewards will be there. In France, the tight head props are some of the highest paid players. You’re not going to get there if you’re not fit,” Byrne said.
Byrne believes the technical aspects of scrummaging can be taught, provided the physical foundations are strong.
“You’re not going to get there if you can’t get around the field and you’ve got to work hard. The coachable part is the scrum. We can coach the scrum.
“We can teach young players the technique as long as they’re strong and they’re fit, they’re a great chance.”
He added that Fiji Rugby should consider setting up national prop development workshops to identify and train future front-rowers.
“As a union, we probably have to set up a couple of workshops and get the best young props around the country in at 17 and 18 years of age start to look at them and develop them because there’s good ones around.”
“It would be great for the Drua to be able to unearth three or four really good props. We could have three or four or potentially five great young props over the next three or four years coming in through the Drua and another three or four or five up north just through the natural movements.
“We could have ten first class props, apply them in a trade and suddenly our depth is awesome, and it gives us another level of performance,” Byrne added.
The Flying Fijians will take on England in their first match this Sunday at 5.40am.
