Ben Gollings

Coach Ben Gollings officially meets his Fiji 7s players

Gollings visited the team in camp and was briefed by the interim head coach Saiasi Fuli on the training programmes and progress so far as the team prepares for the Malaga 7s in Spain.

Gollings said the first week is all about observing the players and seeing how the training programme is in order to analyze what needs to be done.

O'Connor calls for patience as Gollings heads to Fiji as the new sevens head coach

Gollings is the third successive overseas coach to hold the position with the previous two – Ben Ryan and Gareth Baber – having guided the squad to gold medal success at the Olympic Games in Rio and Japan.

O’Connor told The Fiji Times that most of the applicants for the head coach job were expatriates and said: “About 30 applicants were received and mostly expatriates. We shortlisted seven and from the FRU’s point of view, we appointed the person on merit and being the best person for the job based on the outcome of the interview and so forth.”

Ben Gollings is new Fiji 7s rugby coach

This was confirmed by the Fiji Rugby Union on Friday.

The 41-year-old featured in 70 tournaments on the IRB World Sevens Series, and is the leading all-time point scorer.

In late 2012, Gollings took up a 7s coaching role in Sri Lanka and currently continues to mentor the Tuskers.

Gollings will head to Fiji on January 5 where he will attend the Fiji Rugby Super Sevens Series before leading the national squad to the Malaga tournament in Spain.

Ben Gollings and Lote Tuqiri in Fiji to be part of the Coral Coast 7s

Gollings is the highest points scorer in 7s history with 2652 points and is regarded as one of the best play-makers in the game.

He also scored 220 tries in the 7s game.

Meanwhile, Tuqiri is expecting to see his village team, Mango Bay Ratu Filise to put on a good show during the tournament.

Also in the country to attend the Coral Coast 7s is the late Jonah Lomu’s wife Nadene Quirk Lomu and his two sons.