New Delhi, Aug 24 : Newly appointed head coach of Rugby India, Waisale Serevi is one of the most accomplished greats of the game. Renowned globally as the 'King of Sevens,' former Fiji national player Serevi faces one of his biggest challenges yet as he finds himself in a country where the sport is virtually non-existent.

In an exclusive conversation with IANS, Serevi spoke about how it was the deep-rooted relations between India and Fiji, that extend to centuries back, which played a huge role in his decision to join the Indian national team as the head coach of both the men's and women's national teams.

'A couple of 100 years ago, the Indian community came out to Fiji to help develop the country and then they started to work hard and started businesses in Fiji. According to me, when India came they helped our economy and helped the country, for me it did not take me long to decide to join India because of what India did for us, it was about time we helped them and what better way than to do it through the sport we love in our country,' Serevi told IANS.

Serevi is a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame and is renowned for his achievements in Rugby Sevens, while also enjoying a long career in fifteen-a-side rugby at both club and national levels. 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 'King of 7s' said no matter which team he coaches India will be going all out in their hunt for a gold medal at the Asian Rugby Sevens competitions that begins in September.

'When I train people, the aim is to go for gold. The women's team won two silver medals in the last two years and we can only get better from last year. The girls are coming into camp today, we start training tomorrow and the goal is to get better. We have been training on fundamental skills. I believe we are on the right track to do something good for India Rugby this year. Like any other team going into the tournament, India will be going for gold in the Asian Rugby Sevens,' said Serevi.

'Success for me is seeing the sport grow, to see new teams coming up, to see the players do well and improve from where we are now. The girls have won two silver medals then they have to win the gold. For the men's team, wherever they are positioned now they need to do better,' he added.

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, and Russia National Sevens Rugby Team.

Serevi compared India's state in rugby with the USA national team when he first joined. He believes that for any sport to truly flourish in the country, the most important thing is developing it at the grassroots level, and after making the sport wildly popular in the USA, he plans on helping 'rugby to become one of the biggest sports in India.'

'Without grassroots, there will not be any national team players. We need to create a pathway for youngsters and Rugby India will benefit from this because it will expose them to the sport at an early age. There are a billion people in India but I believe currently we are touching maybe 0.3% of the population and I believe every big thing starts with a small step. If we do things properly like Rugby awareness, hold camps at schools and I genuinely believe if we achieve what we want to then Rugby can become one of the biggest sports in India,' concluded the legend of the sport.

/IANS