20 Oct 2011

Sport: Flying Fijians too reliant on overseas players

3:06 pm on 20 October 2011

The Chairman of the Fiji Rugby Union says the World Cup squad was too reliant on overseas-based players who did not perform to expectations.

The FRU has completed an inquiry into the team's performance at the tournament, where they failed to progress past pool play.

It heavily criticises the game plan implemented by the team's coaching staff.

The FRU Board Chair, Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga, says the world cup squad also relied to heavily on overseas players.

"People call themselves professional players but that was not reflected in the world cup performance. Professional perhaps because they were getting paid but certainly aren't professional in their approach to rugby. 70 percent of out players who came to New Zealand were overseas-based players - so-called professional players - but that was not reflected in how they played."

Colonel Tikoitoga says just because individuals play for a certain club doesn't necessarily mean they're any better than some of the local players in Fiji.