Fiji Rugby Union’s new chief executive Radrodro Tabualevu has pledged to work towards a “winning culture in rugby and beyond.”
A leading businessman with experience in a wide range of industries, Tabualevu says he wants to work towards improving rugby in the country.
“As you know, rugby in Fiji is pretty much the pulse of the nation,” he told the ABC’s Pacific Beat program.
“Fiji is a small island country, far from resources far from main markets … we need to be able to compete in that world.
“I think rugby is a wonderful starting point for that winning culture.”
Tabualevu is joining the Fiji Rugby Union at a time when rugby league is experiencing a surge in popularity.
The national league side has enjoyed a spell of good form and is set to enter the New South Wales Cup in 2015.
Tabualevu says it is time for administrators to do more with the brand of Fiji rugby.
“Rugby league is certainly growing in Fiji and there is also an emerging Australian football culture in Fiji,” he says.
“There is certainly competition for our limited talent pool so indeed rugby has to step up to maintain its leading position in the sporting field.
Rugby union clubs throughout the Pacific have also long called for access to players recruited by international teams such as the New Zealand All Blacks.
“Our ultimate dream is to have our own teams in the Pacific,” he says.
“There is significant representation for Pacific island rugby.
“So the challenge for us in the Pacific is to get our act together so that we are able to be reckoned with as a serious competitor in international rugby. We have to be able to say to people we deserve to be number one.”
SUVA, (RADIO AUSTRALIA)
