Former Ireland captain Rory Best will take on his first international coaching role in the Autumn Nations Series after being appointed as Fiji’s forwards coach.
Covid restrictions mean that no Fiji players or coaching staff based in the Southern Hemisphere will travel to Europe for their matches against Spain, Wales and Georgia next month.
Instead, Ireland and Ulster legend Best will take up an assistant coaching role while in the absence of Vern Cotter, Gareth Baber will step in as head coach for the European tour.
Baber coached the Fijian Rugby Sevens side that successfully defended their Olympic title in Tokyo, and Best will be one of his assistants in the coming series.
Ex-Scotland internationals Duncan Hodge and Richie Gray are also named as coaches.
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Fiji Rugby Union CEO John O’Connor said: “We could have made arrangements for management and players to travel to for the Northern tour but we were not able to guarantee their return with the unavailability of MIQ spots in Australia and New Zealand.
“We could not take the risk of players and staff being stuck in the Northern Hemisphere in 2022 as such we made the decision not to use anyone from the Southern Hemisphere for the tour.
“Since we are not engaging our coaches, management and players from the Southern Hemisphere, we have had no option but to look at alternative arrangements in the Northern Hemisphere.”
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Best, 39, has recently stepped into coaching following his retirement, having been announced as the technical and high-performance skills coach for US side Seattle Seawolves earlier this season alongside fellow ex-Ireland international Allen Clarke.
The Irishman retired at the end of 2019 having made 124 appearances for his country, winning four Guinness Six Nations titles and captaining the side towards the end of his career.
Best, who also made over 200 appearances for Ulster, will be joined by former Scotland players Hodge and Gray in the Fiji coaching set-up for the Autumn Nation Series.
Hodge made 26 appearances for Scotland in the late 1990s and early 2000s and has previously worked as Scotland’s kicking coach, recently working for Edinburgh Rugby since 2015.
Gray has also worked as a coach for the Scottish international side, as well as for South Africa, and was with the Flying Fijians during the Autumn Nations Cup last year.
Fiji’s 28-man squad will assemble on October 31 ahead of their matches in November.
They will take on Spain in Madrid on November 7 before heading to the Principality Stadium to take on Wales on November 14 and then taking on Georgia six days later.
