Mumbai: The Indian Rugby Football Union also known as Rugby India has announced the appointment of World Rugby Hall of Famer, Waisale Serevi as the new head coach of the national men’s and women’s 7s teams effective immediately.
“The core impetus for all of us at Rugby India is to do better today than we did yesterday. To go one step further every day in our quest to compete with the world’s best. Ergo, it is a privilege for us to welcome Waisale Serevi as the Head Coach of the Indian National 7s teams. We wish him the best and are excited to see him mould the future of Indian Rugby,” Rahul Bose, President, of the Indian Rugby Football Union said, according to a press release.
Waisale Serevi is a Fijian former rugby union football player and coach and is a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Serevi is renowned for his achievements in rugby sevens, while also enjoying a long career in fifteen-a-side rugby at both club and national team levels. Renowned globally as the “King of 7s”, he is widely considered to be the greatest rugby sevens player in the history of the game. He was also an advisor on behalf of World Rugby to the International Olympic Committee, for the inclusion of Sevens Rugby in the Olympics, the release said.
A five-time Cup winner at the prestigious Hong Kong Sevens, Serevi steered Fiji to their first World Series title in his first year as player-coach in 2005-06. His most recent stints in coaching are with the Rhinos Rugby USA, Jamaica National Sevens Rugby Team, Russia National Sevens Rugby Team.
“It is an honour and privilege for me to be part of the Rugby family in India, I am grateful and I thank god for the opportunity. From Japan, England, France and the USA, I have now made my way to India. 14 years ago, Rugby was relatively unknown in the USA, I’ve done a lot of work there. India today is at a similar crossroads. India and Fiji hold a close relationship. It gives me great pride to be a Fijian coming to India, to help them take Rugby to the next level,” Waisale Serevi said.