FRU to decide on Savou’s Fate

The Fiji Rugby Union is expected to decide the fate of Digicel Fiji 7's coach Joe Savou in their next meeting, as Fiji again failed to win a tournament in the IRB World 7's Series.

Savou's future hangs in the balance as former coaches have called for his resignation and are asking FRU to sack him. Former coach Peni Veidreyaki is one of the coaches calling for Savou to step down.

It is understood that FRU will not rush into making a decision and will consult Savou and team manager Opetaia Ravai first firstly to determine what went wrong in Hong Kong and Adelaide before making a final decision.

And the question that is now being asked is on whether the FRU will ensure that the current sevens Coach will be retained for the last two legs of the IRB series in England and Scotland next month.

Just a day before the Adelaide 7's, the FRU board members travelled to Adelaide and it is believed that they met with the Coach and Management of the Sevens team after there were revelations that a person negatively influenced some key players in the Fiji 7s team in HK.

Fiji again lost to New Zealand in the semifinals of the Adelaide 7s 14-17 although they led 14-5 at half-time. They haven't won a tournament in the 2007/2008 IRB World 7s Series with now two tournaments remaining England and Scotland 7s next month.

Fiji lies in third place on the IRB Series points standings with 74 points and does not have any chance of winning the title.

Meanwhile South Africa won the Adelaide 7's beating News Zealand 15-7 in the final ending the Kiwis unbeaten streak of 47 straight matches, during which time they have won seven back-to-back Cup titles.

However, New Zealand now just needs 7 points from the remaining two tournaments to retain the IRB world 7s Series crown.