Outgoing Fiji 7s coach Gareth Baber says he is proud to coach one of the top teams in the world and also being part of the Fijian family.
While the Welshman said it was a challenge for him to coach the Fiji team, he believed his time with the side had also seen him become a better coach.
“It was a challenge for me as a coach to come in and my time in Fiji has certainly moved me as a coach,” Baber said.
Baber has sought an early release from his contract and the Fiji Rugby Union board has accepted and endorsed his request, as such his last day with the FRU will be Tuesday, November 30.
“It has been a tough decision as John (O’Connor) has indicated,” Baber said.
“John and I have communicated on what the future holds for both myself and the 7s program.
“It was always my intention when I came in is to face the challenges in coaching the best sevens team and the best rugby nation in the world.
“I would challenge myself and look at ways that I can do slightly differently.
“Ultimately representing the Fijian nation in a way they have come to expect. I believe it was part of the satisfaction at the end of the Olympics that some of those boys that had come through in a short period of time benefitted massively from what I believe was a good program for them to be involved in.”
Baber thanked everyone who had supported him when he took over the role as coach from Ben Ryan.
“I like to thank everybody who has been on the journey and my family who have been supporting me for the past five years.
“Being the toughest of times, but it was a wonderful time as well. I certainly appreciate the support of the prime minister, the Government itself, the Sports Commission, the Fiji Rugby Union and all the stakeholders in association with FRU, the sponsors, in particular the supporters for making me feel so welcome. Keeping me with my feet on the ground.”
“I really want to push on and show the people and myself the next challenge is not only in sevens but 15s as well.
“Taking the decision, I knew what would be entailed to go another three years and the program for itself, I wanted to make sure that for those players and the nation of Fiji the person who does that is going to go through the same challenge that I did and get in to a position where you can put a team at a podium in an Olympics game which was the challenge itself.
“As I have said I thank you all especially the media for how you have supported me.
“As John have said I will move on in November but my love for Fiji has not diminished I still very much want to be with you there and celebrate what we have achieved in the men and women’s game and how successful that was for all of us as a Fijian nation.”
General manager high performance and former Flying Fijians captain Simon Rawalui thanked Baber on behalf of all unions for the infrastructure he had put in place.
“The timeline and pathways for our players, we are still working on that in terms of what is the next step for Fiji Rugby.
“It’s been planned out differently and we have an exciting time moving forward in the coming months, getting those things in place and that is part of the great effort that you have done in the last period with us.
“We are forever grateful, you might be from a little town in Wales but you will always be a part of our Fijian family.
“I am just excited now to see where the Fiji 7s program will go from now, it’s a very exciting time and as you have seen there will be a transition period where a number of our sevens players will jump into 15s which is part of our pathways.
“But with Saiasi Fuli, Jerry Tuwai and Baber identifying those next set of generations, we are blessed with those talents, we are blessed enough to use those talents so it’s going to be a very exciting time for Fiji Rugby.”
