The appointment of Talemo, (previously an employee of the Fiji Rugby Union - first as a referee Development Manager and most recently as the High Performance Manager) comes just after Wayne Schuster was appointed Program Manager, Event Operations at the Australian Rugby Union. Wayne was previously the Tours and Events Manager at the Samoa Rugby Union.
It is very pleasing to see both of these Pacific Island men creating a career pathway through rugby in the Pacific Islands. Rugby has long been a career path for countless Pacific Islands players plying their trade in all over the world - and now we're seeing that extend to Rugby's administrators.
Since the commencement of the Strategic Investment Initiative in 2006, the number of staff within the Pacific Island Unions has increased considerably. The IRB invests considerable time and money into the professional development of players, coaches, administrators and match officials through our Training and Education Support Program and initiatives such as the Talent Optimisation Program at Stellenbosch and the Talent Development program run as part of the Pacific in Union partnership with the Australian Rugby Union and the Australian Sports Commission. What it this investment shows, and what Wayne and Talemo have proven, is that with properly constructed professional development plans, it's not just Pacific Island players that can excel on the world stage - our administrators can be amongst the best as well.
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