FORMER Flying Fijians head coach Ilivasi Tabua has been appointed the director of Box Hill Broncos Rugby Club in Melbourne, Australia.
Dubbed as the “Human Skewer” during his playing days for the champion Wallabies rugby team, Tabua will be in charge of setting up of the clubs coaching structures and development for his new team.
The Naivicula native said the team consisted of rugby players who were affiliated under the Rugby Plus and Chaplaincy program which included some Fijian players.
Tabua said one of the reasons he accepted the offer was he wanted to give something back to the sport that had made him famous worldwide.
“Rugby has given me so much and this is one way to give back to the game,” he said.
“I have travelled places and I have seen the world and have made a lot of friends in life and I think I am in the position to give back to the younger people to understand the game and to understand it better in empowering them to get the best results for them and their families, communities and to have positive influence to those around them. This is why I am doing this.
“I helped with the setting up of the coaching structures and developments and we play in the Melbourne rugby competition that is where the Melbourne Rebels select their players.”
Tabua said he was proud to see the first Fijian from his team to break in the Melbourne Rebels for the Super Rugby competition.
“One of the boys that came through with the program last year and has signed a contract with the Rebels is Sefanaia Naivalu.”
He said Naivalu had set a benchmark for other Fijian and Pacific Island players and the challenge on the other boys in the squad to make it big time in rugby.
Tabua said through the Rugby Plus and Chaplaincy program more players were expected to join Naivalu in the top flight competition. “Rugby Plus is not only in Fiji, it is now in the Solomons, Vanuatu, Nauru and we will be taking it to Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands and its growing in the Pacific.
“And there is an opportunity for those that excel in the rugby field to showcase their skills on the professional arena. With this the Box Hill rugby which is where the boys we take over are based every year have asked me to be their director in helping the young boys which I am also passionate about.”
“So this also opens opportunity to bring new boys from the Pacific and not only exposing them to Super Rugby but to empower them through processes to prepare them for the professional environment.”
Tabua played for the Australia 7s team in the 1993 Sevens World Cup before representing the Wallabies on 10 occasions including the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
In the 1999 WC he played for the Flying Fijians and after retiring from international rugby he helped the Fiji team to prepare for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
He was also the first Fijian to be appointed the national coach to the Rugby World Cup.
