McKee’s first match in charge will be against the touring Italian team on June 7th, followed by two matches in the Pacific Nations Cup against local rivals Samoa and Tonga. All this against the background of the Fiji Rugby Union’s ongoing financial woes, but the new coach doesn’t believe they’ll be a distraction for him.
Presenter: Richard Ewart
John McKee, Flying Fijians Coach
MCKEE: There have been some problems with the IRB funding, that is very close to coming back on track so I’ll be hopeful that is all back to the normal situation very soon. And the IRB funding plus quite a good sponsorship deal that the union have put together in the last three to four months, means that going forward our finances will be quite good.
EWART: Do you feel that with the big month that lies ahead that you’re under pressure right from the start, because let’s be honest if Fiji were to lose to Cook Islands and not qualify for the World Cup that would be something of a disaster?
MCKEE: It almost goes with the territory I suppose, there’s always pressure on results. For me I think the important thing is that around June of getting our processes right and making sure we select the best team we can, but also making sure we get the right off-field support group together, because that is very, very important for a team’s success as well. A lot of work to do to prepare for those tests, but I think for us the big upside is that all our games are in Fiji, so our preparation will be very good, we haven’t got to deal with all the issues of travel. In fact having the squad together for the whole of June here in Fiji will be great for our preparation. I’ve got to be very wary of the Cook Islands game, I don’t want any sort of feeling through the squad or around the union that that game will be an easy game, it’ll be a very challenging game for us. So we must be very well prepared for a top performance on that day.
EWART: And from what we’re being told by the Cook Islands camp, they’ve been on a fairly extensive recruiting campaign. It’s likely the team that you face in that World Cup qualifying match will be a team that maybe not even the Cook Islands staff themselves are overly familiar with. So how much more difficult will that make your job?
MCKEE: I can’t focus on what they might do or might not do and who they might select or who they might not select. I know from the Fijian point of view we’ve got a large number of our players are playing overseas and have very, very good form for their clubs in various competitions across Europe, Japan, super rugby. So for us we’ll concentrate on getting the best side together that we can and make sure our preparation is the best it can be. I’d be confident that we do everything right, that we can have a team that can win that game no matter who the Cook Islands bring here.
EWART: And on your own appointment it was quite a long drawn out process, as I understand it I think 20 candidates and then that was whittled down to a short list of three. What do you think swung it for you in the end?
MCKEE: Well it’s probably particularly a lot of experience coaching in the Pacific environment, goes back to 2008 with the combined Pacific Islanders team, and also my experience with Tonga in the two years leading up to and during the last World Cup. And in my role here as high performance manager a lot of my job this year in particular has been around tracking the players form in different competitions around the world. So I’ve got a very good knowledge of our players. I travelled to Europe last month and visited about 30 of our top players at their clubs in France and the UK. So I know a lot of the senior players and I think all those things have helped.
EWART: And just to pick up on the point you mentioned about your connections with the combined Pacific Islands side. Do you believe that the 18th spot in what will be the Super 18 should go to a Pacific side? The suggestion is that that is unlikely to happen but based on your experience you would know maybe what that type of side is capable of?
MCKEE: I’m always very disappointed when I see round the scene discussions and obviously commercial factors come into play when they talk about an Asian side, a couple of years ago they talked about a USA side and then overlooked the Pacific, which is disappointing when the Pacific is such a powerhouse of world rugby really when you look at the Pacific players playing in competitions across the world it’s disappointing that the money people don’t look to the Pacific for a team. I think it would be a great asset for the Super Rugby competition. I look at these plans and already I see some of the rugby fans they get a bit confused about where teams are from and who they are. I saw some tv out of Australia over the weekend and the journalists are saying like a team from Asia, who are they, who do they represent and who will play for them. Whereas a Pacific team would quite clearly be populated by Pacific players that would have huge, huge support, the Super Rugby competition’s already very, very popular in the Pacific. And I think it would add to the competition, particularly if it’s played in conferences across Australia and New Zealand, I think that team would get great support, it would play an exciting brand of rugby and it really would have something to offer to the competition.