FORMER Fiji Water Flying Fijians head coach Simon Raiwalui and former captain Netani Talei have called for greater accountability across Fiji Rugby following the team’s crushing 8-73 defeat to England in Liverpool, England in the Rugby Nations Championship last Sunday.
The pair believe the embarrassing loss exposed deeper issues than what unfolded during the 80 minutes.
For Raiwalui, the warning signs were evident from the opening exchanges.
The former coach and captain, who guided Fiji to the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, said talent alone would never be enough to consistently compete against the world’s best.
“We have all world talents but if we can’t do the basics we will never consistently compete at this level,” Raiwalui wrote on his X account.
His concerns quickly shifted to Fiji’s defensive shortcomings at the line-out and driving maul.
“Need to sort out our set-piece defence very quickly or it’s going to be a long day,” he wrote on X.
It was an accurate assessment as England dominated the set piece, won the collision battle and controlled territory throughout the contest, denying Fiji quality possession and forced the visitors into costly mistakes.
The Flying Fijians, who had shown encouraging signs despite a 24-39 loss to Wales a week earlier, struggled to produce the same intensity or cohesion.
By fulltime, Raiwalui could only acknowledge England’s superiority.
“That was a huge kick in the teeth. So disappointed. Congratulations to England, who thoroughly deserved the victory.”
His comments echoed those of former Flying Fijians loose forward Netani Talei, who believes Fiji Rugby must now take a hard look at its entire high-performance programme.
Talei said accountability should not stop with the players.
“England deserved to win because they dominated the fundamentals of Test rugby — set piece, discipline, territory, breakdown and game management. We got outsmarted, outmuscled and outplayed.”
He admitted Fiji’s red card made the challenge even greater but insisted it was not the defining reason behind the heavy defeat.
Instead, he pointed to England’s dominance in the basics of Test rugby.
“The biggest concern is how we went from showing so much promise against Wales to looking so disconnected a week later,” Talei said.
“Accountability cannot rest solely with the players. It has to extend across leadership, coaching, preparation, selection, tactics and execution.”
Talei also challenged the current high-performance environment.
He questioned whether players were being properly monitored throughout the professional season and whether workloads, recovery and game time were being managed alongside their overseas clubs.
He also asked whether enough opportunities existed for players to reconnect with the national programme before Test windows.
Talei said leading rugby nations had built success through continuity.
He pointed to England, New Zealand and South Africa, where players regularly return to national camps and work within established systems long before international matches.
That continuity, he said, gives those teams a significant advantage.
He believes Fiji Rugby must now invest in a genuine Tier One high-performance structure.
That includes specialist coaches in attack, defence and set piece, supported by strength and conditioning experts, performance analysts, nutritionists, sports psychologists and player welfare staff.
“If Fiji wants to consistently compete with the best, we must be prepared to invest like the best,” Talei said.
“Talent has never been Fiji’s problem. Building a world-class high-performance system around that talent is the next step.”
The views of both Raiwalui and Talei deliver a clear message.
Fiji has the players to challenge the world’s best.
However, without stronger systems, better preparation and accountability across every level of the program, the gap between potential and performance will remain.
