Fiji national rugby coach Ben Ryan says he is weighing almost 20 job offers that have poured in since he guided the country to its first-ever gold medal at the Rio de Janiero Olympics.
Ryan’s contract with the Fiji Rugby Union ends on September 3 and he has resisted all efforts to keep him in the job he has held since 2013.
Fiji sports organisations mounted a major effort to raise money to match rival offers for Ryan, but the English coach says money is not the issue and that he is ready for new challenges.
One offer is believed to have come from the Japan national rugby sevens team and others from Super Rugby teams in Australia, Japan and New Zealand raising more questions around the future of Sir Gordon Tietjens, who has been at the helm of the All Blacks Sevens for 22 years.
Sir Gordon was reluctant to talk about his future in the aftermath of his side’s 12-7 quarter-final defeat to Fiji and Ryan would not specify whether the offers came from New Zealand Rugby or other teams in the country.
Since taking on the New Zealand coaching role in 1994, Sir Gordon has won four Commonwealth Games titles, two IRB Sevens World Championship titles (2001 in Argentina and 2013 in Russia), 12 of the 17 world series crowns and has nurtured more than 40 future All Blacks.
Sir Gordon’s contract is due to expire soon and it’s likely he will be judged on his side’s showing in Rio.