The Fiji Rugby Union Interim Chair Peter Mazey says that they will comment later this afternoon in regards to allegations made by former Fiji Water Flying Fijians captain Waisea Nayacalevu.
Nayacalevu revealed that the Rugby World Cup quarter-final match against England last year almost didn’t happen.
In an extensive interview with the Daily Mail, Nayacalevu confirmed that the Fiji players were prepared to boycott the fixture over unpaid bonuses and alleged corruption at the Fiji Rugby Union.
His claims come just a month after Fiji was reinstated to the World Rugby Council after a prolonged exile.
Nayacalevu skippered his country at the World Cup in France and led the play strike threats to the bigwigs.
He says they need to cut off this virus that has always been there.
The centre says they weren’t going to play the match against England, they were going to walk out as the FRU had promised them things and they didn’t get it as they were promised a bonus.
He says they were staying in Marseille and he organised a presentation, a Zoom call, to talk about what they had been promised.
Nayacalevu says they gave them a date and said, if they don’t pay by this day, nobody is going to play in the quarter-final.
He says it was not the first time that the union made empty promises to the players but he and several senior players of the squad including Semi Radradra, Levani Botia, Albert Tuisue and Eroni Mawi were not willing to let it slide this time.
The veteran midfielder added that the fight with the Fiji Rugby Union proved to be a distraction for the squad as they chased history by taking their nation to the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time in their history.
Nayacalevu says he has played for Fiji for more than 10 years and it’s the same thing over and over again.
He says it’s not the first time, boys getting half-paid, not getting paid for weeks.
The midfielder says Fiji has the potential to win the World Cup, that was their mindset last year but they were frustrated after the England match.
He says because they were building phases, but there were hands in every ruck, blocking the ball.
Nayacalevu says they are not playing with closed eyes.
Fiji claimed a famous victory over England at Twickenham before the Rugby World Cup but they were unable to back up that performance in France as they succumbed to a 30-24 defeat with George Ford slotting a drop goal and Owen Farrell adding a penalty in the final ten minutes of the match.
The 34-year-old believed that 2023 could have been his final year of international rugby which pushed him to fight even harder for himself and his team-mates.
He has since played for Fiji this year but hopes that future generations of Flying Fijians will continue to stand up against the alleged corruption.
Nayacalevu says he told the team when he is gone he hopes they will learn from this, when things happen in the future he hopes they have the balls to put it in their face.
[Source: planetrugby]
