Ella says game needs injection of South Sea flair

FIJIAN coach Glen Ella believes rugby will ultimately look to the Pacific island nations to bring the flair back to a game he believes is fast losing its glamour.

As Ella prepared for today’s clash with Ireland at the RDS in Dublin, he expressed disappointment with the way some of the top nations have adapted a boring, win-at-all-costs, style of play that he said threatens to drive away the fans.

However, he was full of praise for Ireland who, he said, had managed to weave structure and positivity into their game.

“I have been impressed by the way they play these days. It’s certainly not like Irish teams of old that perhaps relied mainly on big forwards to do the business; this Irish team is much more rounded and I was impressed by the way they laid down the challenge to the Wallabies and by the way they ran the ball from deep when they saw opportunity.”

He didn’t say quite the same for his beloved Australia with whom he has been involved as a coach in different roles through much of this decade.

“If you look around you will see that the game is struggling in places; it’s struggling in Australia to hold its support because it’s getting to be a dull game within the Franchise set-ups. For me, running with the ball seems to have become a lost art; the game needs far more flair because the pre-occupation with defence appears to be stifling the game.

Ella knows he will never be bored as long as he is in charge of Fiji and beams when he speaks of the unlimited potential amongst his players.

He may be none too pleased with the way Fiji have to battle for the rights other more powerful rugby nations automatically assume – access to all of their players during officially agreed times for Test matches being one – but he has no doubts he made the right decision to take the job.

Ella will point out that his players get the princely sum of $200 a day for this European tour against an Australian player who gets $12,000 for a Test match appearance, and he will highlight ongoing difficulties with certain European clubs to release players for international duty.

“Undoubtedly, ” he said, “it is a major challenge; the problems in getting players released on time and per agreement is an ongoing issue and it is both unfortunate and unfair.

“These guys have an unbelievable natural talent; there have attributes that one simply cannot coach, a natural ability, there is a real x-factor, they can catch and pass and read the game to perfection. Really, with some things, they are in a league of their own, better than players from any other nation.”

Of course, not everything is perfect as Ella outlined: “The problem is that Fijian rugby is not up to speed in the critical areas of structure, players are not technically prepared to meet with the challenges of opponents in the scrums and line outs, and that’s an area where we must now set about to bring a huge improvement.

“We know where we are at in terms of world rugby, and being honest we’re not where we should be; therefore we need to get guys on programmes and that could and will take 18 months before we start to get the results.“To be honest,” he said, “getting the opportunity to coach Fiji is a highlight of my career; I waited a long time for that opportunity because I’ve so admired the rugby they play.”