Former Harlequins CEO Mark Evans is loving his time in the same role at Super Rugby Pacific side Fijian Drua, who he believes had a major impact on Fiji's success in this autumn's Rugby World Cup.
Evans took the job in October 2022 having been CEO at rugby league side Melbourne Storm before a number of projects in sports administration in Australia in the previous decade.
The Drua played most of their first season on that continent but were able to play six out of the seven home games last campaign on their home island, a place that Evans says is absorbed by rugby to such a strong degree that he has overwhelmingly enjoyed the challenge so far despite some administrative problems he has faced.
“It's brilliant,” he said, speaking on The Rugby Paper Podcast. “It's just so joyful.”
“If you've never lived here for a while it's very very hard to explain how dominant rugby is within the culture, and how deeply engrained amongst people of all backgrounds, men, women, young and old.
“Half the population watches the games live on a free to air. Just think about that for a minute. That would be like 32 million people in the UK watching club rugby, it's just great.
“It's got huge challenges. There's governance issues, there's local politics which is ferocious, national politics which is equally ferocious, it's poor. Things you just take for granted just aren't here, and there's loads still to do, loads of stuff that isn't as good as it should be, but it's just really enjoyable.”
Evans was not expecting the Drua to have an impact as quickly as it did, but like many associated with Fijian rugby who gave interviews in the build-up to and during their successful World Cup run, he can draw a link between the growing consistency of the national team with their new franchise.
It is the experience that those players earned that he believes improved the depth and respect the squad had, and though he also takes the commonly held view that they ran out of steam he is hopeful for the next generation.
“I think what Drua did is it gave a lot more depth to the squad,” he added. “There was more competition for places, and I think the impact was as much on the European-based players as it was on the Drua boys. They saw each other very much on a level, which hadn't always been the case in previous campaigns for Fiji.
“We're a young squad, so we honestly felt '27 was going to be more likely where we'd have a big impact, but the impact was quite significant this year.
“I think Simon [Raiwalui] and I both agree they got a bit tired towards the end. They'd done five warm-up games, travelled to Japan and back, travelled to Samoa and back, then went to France and played them, went and played in England and finally returned to France for the World Cup to play the two big games in the pool stage [Wales and Australia] up front.
“That generation won't go around again: [Levani] Botia's 34, [Waisea] Nayacalevu's 33, [Semi} Radrada's 31, Teti Tela's 32 and has retired now, but there's a good generation coming. There's a lot of good guys playing for the Drua who are under 26 and will gain more experience in Super Rugby by the time of the next World Cup, and some of them will have gone on to Europe by then too.
Evans went on to discuss some of the aforementioned challenges and goals he has had, alongside the simple running of the club day-to-day.
Like its impact on the national team though, Evans could point to a catalogue of evidence showing the club's success up to this point; having overcome a first season which saw them face numerous difficulties to get off the ground.
“You're trying to improve capability in broadcast on the island, trying to improve rugby administration on the island, trying to get more Fijian-heritage coaches involved, there's a whole pile of stuff,” he continued.
“And you're trying not to lose money. You've got no big patron behind you, no-one writing cheques, you've got to make payroll every fortnight. It's a very disciplined environment in that sense because there's no-one to bail you out.
“Given that the first year was so difficult – we had to play in Australia, losing millions of dollars due to the lack of revenue and increased costs there – and we've come from that to qualify for the play-offs for the first time, come seventh, win six games, have 18 out of 33 players in the Fiji World Cup squad and retain all except two of our squad that we wanted to for next year, shows it's going really well.”
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