One of Wales' Rugby World Cup pool rivals have been left in disarray after being forced to cut their defence coach months out from the tournament.
Fiji defence coach Peter Ryan has taken to social media to announce his role with the national team has ended after the country overspent on their World Cup budget.
Ryan had been working under head coach John McKee - with many expecting the Fiji team to be a serious threat to pool rivals Wales and Australia after spending a considerable amount of time together as a playing group.
But the news that Ryan is leaving casts doubt on their World Cup preparations.
“Just wanting to let everyone know that I have been informed by John McKee (head coach) that Fiji Rugby Union have overspent their World Cup budget," said Ryan in a post online.
“Due to this I will no longer be working with Fiji. Very disappointed. I was expecting to achieve something special but alas this will not happen. I just want to wish the Fiji rugby players all the very best in the endeavours.”
However, according to RugbyPass.com , the Fijian rugby authorities insist that the allegation they have overspent is false. They claim they made their decision to cut Ryan loose to stay on budget and not overspend.
They also added that the defence brief will now be picked up by another one of McKee’s assistants.
