Fiji 7s coach undecided on future following gold medal win

Fiji men's sevens coach Gareth Baber is yet to make a decision on his long-term future.

The Welshman guided Fiji to it's second Olympic gold medal in Tokyo on Wednesday, defending the title they won in Rio.

He took charge of the team at the start of 2017 and has led Fiji to one World Series title, a Commonwealth Games silver medal and now Olympic gold.

Baber's contract is up at the end of year but he said nothing had been decided yet.

"I've had my contract extended until the end of December so I am still under contract at Fiji Rugby at the moment...I'll take some time and have a think as well", he said.

"It's one of those periods where it's sort of a cooling off period and everyone has a look and see where they want to go in the future."

Gareth Baber said some people thought he was crazy for taking charge of a team that was already the Olympic champions.

But the Welshman says he and his family have loved the past five years in Fiji, which has helped him to improve as a rugby coach and as a person.

The former Hong Kong sevens coach said he knew taking charge of the Olympic champions was an "impossible" job but he's loved it.

"If you want to be the best at something and you want to keep getting better then you've got to challenge yourself, and I never shirk from a challenge," he said.

"People thought I was crazy doing it in the first place but certainly not my wife and my kids, they just said 'yeah we'll follow you, we'll get on with that. Let's go and do it.

"I couldn't hope for better if I'm honest in that and I just want to be the best coach I can possibly be, I love coaching."

Gareth Baber is still contracted to Fiji until December with the new World Sevens Series scheduled to kick off in September in Vancouver.

The Fijian players are currently three days into a 14 day stint in quarantine in Nadi, after arriving home on Friday.

Gareth Baber flew to the UK to reunite with wife Danielle and their three children but said he expected to be back in Fiji in about a month.

Meanwhile the Fiji government is set to offer the gold medal winning coach a piece of land following the team's Olympic triumph.

Former coach Ben Ryan was given three acres of land in Fiji after helping the Pacific nation to their first Olympic medal in 2016.

Speaking in Parliament following Fiji's gold medal win, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama suggested a similar reward would be extended to the current coach.

"I believe he has earned a home in Fiji for all he has done and we are making the arrangement to offer him a lease on iTaukei land, should he accept."