FRU Chair, John Sanday. [Photo: FILE]

The Fiji Rugby Union is expected to pay the premium for its land in Saweni, Lautoka, from the profit it made over the weekend in England.

FRU Chair, John Sanday, says there was never a shortfall in gate takings for the England game, and they amassed the record number of spectators in a home test with a presence of around 50,200.

He says the Profit and Loss for this is expected to be a windfall gain, which FRU expects to pay for the premium of the Saweni land, share with its member unions to cover for their season costs and also extinguish all inherited FRU debt.

Sanday said last week, after the Wales game, that they had not yet reconciled the numbers.

However, now after having the numbers reconciled for the game against Wales, they have turned out a reasonable profit.

Leading up to the Nations Championship, FRU had publicly stated that ticket sales for the Wales match were the weakest, and they were using many different marketing tools to raise their profile.

The former national lock also says they were competing against the Soccer World Cup, and the global music star “Pit Bull” was performing live at The Principality Stadium and a very big crowd was there.

Upon their return to Fiji, the FRU Board will publish a full set of financial accounts for the three home games so that everyone is aware and knows the financial gains made, according to Sanday.

He also says hosting three games in Europe has not been an easy project. It is the largest and the most challenging one ever that FRU has embarked on in its 120 year history. The result on the field has been disappointing, but the off-field success has been huge.

FIJI Water Flying Fijians play Scotland at 1:10am on Sunday, and it’ll air live on FBC Sports via the Walesi set-top box.