Nadi rugby coach Cohan Politini has joined the call for the FIJI Water Flying Fijians to have more Test matches against Tier 1 teams.
Politini, who led Nadi to its Inkk Farebrother victory this year and coached the likes of Flying Fijians loose forwards Vilive Miramira and Meli Derenalagi, shared his thoughts on the rebranded Pacific Nations Cup.
He says while it can give Fiji more game time and experience to the players, it did not guarantee the same level of competition that Tier 1 nations are able to provide.
“You’re as good as the opponents you play. If we play Tier 2 countries than we will only be exposed to that level of rugby so the higher we play the better. I believe that decision to have those six teams in was done prior to the World Cup. I think during the World Cup we have showed that we can compete with Tier 1 nations and that we need to be in a group with them,” he said.
Politini said the performance of the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua alone, of which 18 of its players made the Rugby World Cup squad, should speak volume of the calibre of players.
“If you take one step back and look to the Super Rugby, our Drua team actually started that, they showed that we can complete at that level and that has been consistent now with our national team that we can compete like that.
“We’ve always had world-class players come through our system. Now we’ve shown that we can put them together in the right environment, culture, training and education, we can be one of the top teams in the world.”
Politini’s sentiments were similar to that of former Flying Fijians captain Ro Alivereti Doviverata who stated on Wednesday that Fiji should be playing at a higher level now given the performance of the team in France.
