A "revolutionary plan is being worked on to end the player drain from the Pacific Islands by establishing a Super Rugby franchise in Fiji" -- and it has already secured more than £20M ($24.9M) in backing, according to Gavin Mairs of the London TELEGRAPH. More than four global companies and two leading kit manufacturers "have pledged to fund the proposal to create 'the best club side in world rugby' on the island."
The new team, which could be operational by '18, "would be based in a new 20,000-seat stadium included in plans to develop the Port Denarau Marina in Fiji, close to the island’s airport in Nadi."
Ben Ryan, the Englishman who guided Fiji to its historic first Olympic Gold Medal when it defeated Great Britain in the sevens final in Rio, said that the move would be a “world game changer.” Ryan: "It is not pie in the sky. Pick a world XV from the players that are playing outside Fiji and Samoa in the other international teams and you would get a team that is there or thereabouts. We have got some of the biggest companies in the world backing this." The plan "has yet to be endorsed by Super Rugby but Ryan has outlined the proposals to World Rugby." He said, “No one has ever gone to Super Rugby and said, ‘We would like a franchise in the islands’ and we have got more money than any other franchise in Super Rugby and we can guarantee that. Plus, we can build a new stadium that is a 10-minute drive from Nadi airport and surrounded by 20 five-star hotels" (TELEGRAPH, 11/15).
