Please don’t leave: Read the incredible offer Fiji chiefs made to triumphant sevens coach Ben Ryan

Popular Englishman becomes a man in demand as Fijian rugby bosses pull out all the stops to avoid losing star coach

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Ben Ryan has become one of the most venerated people in Fiji since his rugby sevens team conquered the world to take the gold medal in Rio. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 10:30am, 30 Aug 2016Updated: 7:46pm, 14 Oct 2016

Fiji has ramped up overtures to sevens coach Ben Ryan giving him land and a chiefly title to keep the popular Englishman in the South Pacific island nation.

Ryan has become the most venerated person in Fiji since guiding them to their first Olympic medal when they won the sevens gold in Rio earlier this month.

He has already been awarded Fiji’s highest civilian honour, the Companion of the Order of Fiji, and moves are under way to give Ryan and his family Fijian passports.

Fiji’s rugby sevens team won the country’s first ever Olympic medal when they took the gold in Rio. Photo: Kyodo

The 44-year-old, who also guided Fiji to victory at the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, has been swamped with lucrative offers round the world since his Olympic success and has signalled he will look for new challenges elsewhere.

However, authorities in cash-strapped Fiji say they are doing everything they can to get Ryan to change his mind.

Villagers in Serua, one of the 14 provinces of Fiji, on Monday gave Ryan a three-acre (1.2 hectare) plot of land and the title Ratu, which is used by Fijians of chiefly rank.