SUVA, (FBC SPORTS) – Vodafone Fiji 7s coach, Ben Ryan says he would prefer to use local-based players for the busy season that lies ahead.
While he is not entirely ruling out including overseas-based reps for the upcoming World Sevens Series and the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Ryan says he has a soft spot for the local players who toil hard every day to try and make the final cut.
“They make a lot of sacrifices, they are nowhere near the money that the guys overseas are making and for them, it means everything. They are living and breathing 7s everyday. We’ll pick on form and I’d love 12 local boys to fend off the overseas guys so that they can just give us something slightly different. It would be the key to our success to have a large proportion of local boys making the final 12.”
Ryan will break his current 26-member national training squad into two teams to compete in the Macuata Provincial Youth 7s tournament in Labasa next week and name a 16-member squad on Friday.
The first leg of the 2015/2016 World Series will be held in Dubai on December 3rd and 4th.
