Fidji Olympic Champion – Franck Boivert

Franck Boivert
Development Officer Fiji Rugby 2003-2004
Coaching Director Fiji Rugby 2012-2013
Technical Director Nadroga Rugby Union, Fiji Champions 2011-present
Stanford University Head Coach 1987-2003

During our interview to recruit the new Coach for Fiji, Ben Ryan had the largest smile, kindness and a touching modesty, but most of all he knew the Fijian game better than any other candidate and even better than the Fijian candidates themselves.

It is in this smile that illustrates the joy of sharing the “joie de vivre”, the enjoyment of life that you will find one of the main reasons of the Fijian triumph.

So he was the first choice without a doubt, in spite of the reservations from some (…)

Fiji is the only nation who really has selected its best players for the Olympic games because the Fijian rugby players are the Fijian people’s players; they are not the egocentric club president’s players. They are our friends, our cousins, our brothers, our sons, our Vanua (our land).

Their values are those who seduce all those who approach the Fijian players, Humility, Tradition, Respect that give to Fijian Rugby its strong identity.

May many in the World find these values rooted in your regional identities, with your own language, dances and songs; this is the lesson hopefully Fijian rugby has given. Without a strong identity and its rituals a team cannot be as irresistible as Fiji Sevens.

But mainly may all let the children play! The Rugby from Fiji who has triumphed is the one who plays, who is joyous around 4 pm in all fields, streets and schoolyards that you can find at that magic hour all over Fiji. This is the magician’s secret, rugby is played with touch rugby in order to laugh, to enjoy and all the coaches around the globe must understand that play is not something that you learn but something that you celebrate through enjoyment and fun.

The Fijian kids, future Olympic champions have learned rugby in the enjoyment of the game of touch rugby, the fun of it, the free game advocated by Pierre Villepreux. This game of freedom generates free skills that are the matrix of the creativity, of the magic that commentators like to mention to brand the Fijian game.

Coach Ben Ryan’s genius was to make sure that the players had spaces of freedom when ball in hand and he put in place thoroughness in the basics such as set pieces, defense and the contact areas where the warrior’s spirit of the Fijian players found its outlet.

The athleticism of the players did the rest, Fijian other than their speed have very large hands and exceptional arm’s span that allow them to catch and pass the ball in the most acrobatic ways.  The Olympic champions grew up bare feet and that explains the incredible footwork that confuses the defenders.

Then the Fijian game plays itself with a terrific efficiency because it is adapted to the particular talents of the players. Fiji has the best strike rate of all teams and needs only short plays to score because the ball does not go to ground for a breakdown, Fiji is the team who rucks the least and makes full sense of our philosophy of play that considers rucks as just “accidents of the game”.

This style of play was endangered of disappearing in the first decade of this century because of the influence of foreign coaches and also because players moving overseas were losing their identity. We reintroduced it with the Nadroga Province as early as 2010 first with the under 20 team then the following year with the seniors and since then the main province of Fiji rugby who provides the majority of the star Fiji rugby players across the world, has reigned on the archipelago’s rugby with absolute domination and has our supporters dance with joy and excitement.

But this unique capacity to keep the ball alive is to be found in the development of the players through the “freedom game” that is touch rugby. Touch rugby is played everywhere in the world but in Fiji the rules are special and I never played these rules anywhere but in Fiji. Everywhere on the rugby planet, the ball is turned over after 3 or 4 or sometimes more “touch”. Not in Fiji, in Fiji the ball is turned over after the first touch with one hand only. This detail has a crucial and decisive importance in the development of the player. When all the players around the globe are initiated to the game by playing touch “3 or 4 touch” or by tackle rugby, these players are reassured in their decision making because if they are touched or tackled, the possession of the ball is not lost and the player has not done a serious mistake; he will be able to play with the ball again. That is not the case in Fiji with touch rugby one hand/one touch because when the player is touched he committed a serious mistake because the ball is turned over. Therefore this player will have to be much more alert in his decision making, he will have to gather quickly information, his field of vision will have to be the widest possible, he must know where the defenders are, where his support players are and he will have to develop very diverse strategic skills in order to avoid at all cost the opponent; inside cuts, change of pace, fakes, acrobatic passes, its all good to avoid at all cost to be touched. Touch rugby Fijian rules is much more demanding than any other form of touch rugby around the world; it forces the player to learn how to release the ball before contact and all at the same time fix the defender. It forces the player to anticipate much quicker than players initiated to the game through the game of 3 touch or more, or initiated through tackle rugby as the rules of rugby favor the player going to ground and therefore reassures the player in not taking risky decisions. So this player’s development done “naturally” makes the Fijian player way superior in his spatiotemporal perception in order to keep the ball alive who by its constant movement will disorganize the defenses.

We have also the notion of sharing the ball, sharing the pleasure to pass it and offer it to another. There is a ritual in touch rugby in Fiji that whoever you are, beginner, tourist, experienced player as soon as you join a game the ball will be passed to you. Its like an offering, an invitation to the joy of the game but its also a ritual who translates a will not to be selfish while playing by keeping the ball but instead sharing it with his/her partners.

That’s how touch rugby Fijian style played daily by all kids and adults is a key factor in the triumph of Fijian rugby at the Olympic games.

Religion plays also a dominant role in this triumph because it brings in the mental preparation that all the sport psychologists recommend for high performance. It brings serenity before the game and return to a state of calm after the game. The pre-match rituals such as praying and hymns help the players in their pre-match routine that is necessary for high performance. This religious routine allows lucidity and a courage that the elite athletes need before a game.

Finally how can we forget this nation crazy of its rugby who screams and laughs in the stadium, is entertained easily and jumps and dances of joy even when the opposite team scores! For those who like myself have played and coached in front of belligerent crowds and under despicable invectives on the French or American rugby grounds; it is so refreshing, it is so pleasant and such an honor to coach and participate in THE Rugby country.

Let the children play, burst into laughter instead of whining and complaining respect each person and go back to your culture and its rituals, dances, songs and then the rugby will become as beautiful as it was in the final of the Rio Olympic games.

• «Previous Post
• Next Post »