7 Nov 2011

Sport: Alifereti Dere named new Fiji sevens coach

12:14 pm on 7 November 2011

Alifereti Dere has been appointed the new coach of Fiji's sevens rugby team.

He replaces Joe Savou, who was in charge of the team at the Pacific Games and Oceania Sevens tournaments.

Dere is a former captain of the Fiji sevens team from the 1990s and will be assisted by Etuate Waqa.

With a little over two weeks to prepare the team for the first World Series event on the Gold Coast, FRU Chairman Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga says their expectations are realistic.

"We're not expecting any sudden miracles at this ealy stage of their coaching philosophy, though they need to change the way the current team is playing and put their coaching style into play. That may take a few tournaments but no big expectations yet but we've made a long term commitment to the two coaches and we're hoping to get more results as the tournament goes on."