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Breaking: Former Fiji boss Simon Raiwalui confirms his next move
Ex-Fiji head coach Simon Raiwalui has revealed his new post-Rugby World Cup role. The 49-year-old captured the imagination when guiding the Pacific Islanders to the quarter-finals in France, their first appearance at that stage of the tournament since 2007.
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Having only become head coach last February after the sudden exit of Vern Cotter, Raiwalui worked wonders in his short time in charge of the team.
However, he stated in October shortly after the defeat to England in Marseille that he wasn’t looking to continue in the job that was last week given on an interim basis to Senirusi Seruvakula, one of Raiwalui’s assistants at the finals.
France 2023 won’t be the last we will see of the Raiwalui’s influence at the World Cup, though, as he has now decided to join World Rugby as their high performance pathways and player development manager ahead of the expansion of the women’s World Cup from 12 to 16 teams in 2025 and the increase in the men’s tournament in 2027 from 20 to 24 teams.
A statement read: “World Rugby have appointed Simon Raiwalui in a key role to support its core mission of increasing the competitiveness of international rugby as the sport prepares for a new era of opportunity and growth.
“With expanded men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups the cornerstones of a reimagined global rugby calendar from 2025, which features USA’s groundbreaking hosting of the men’s and women’s editions in 2031 and 2033 respectively, Raiwalui joins the governing body at an exciting and pivotal time.
“Renowned for his passion for rugby across the globe and ability to build winning player development and pathway programmes, Raiwalui joins World Rugby’s competitions and performance function.
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“In line with the federation’s central mission of growing the global game, he will support director of high performance Peter Horne to assist performance and emerging unions identify, develop and fast track player development initiatives as well as support other HP rugby projects.
“Raiwalui joins World Rugby having completed his contract as Flying Fijians head coach, and formerly general manager of high performance for the Fiji Rugby Union, after a highly successful period on and off the field across the men’s and women’s national team and pathway programmes.
“The former Fiji, Sale, Newport, Saracens and Racing 92 second row’s high performance credentials are impressive, having coached Fiji’s men to a first Rugby World Cup quarter-final in 16 years at France 2023, been integral in the establishment of the Fijian Drua Super Rugby Pacific franchise and assisted Fijiana to their first women’s Rugby World Cup in 2022.”
Raiwalui said: “World Rugby are passionate about growing our sport, increasing opportunity and certainty for more unions to breakthrough. Underpinning all of this is player and competition pathways, something that I am passionate about and I look forward to contributing to what promises to be an exciting and challenging journey, ultimately increasing the competitiveness and impact of international rugby.”
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World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin added: “Simon joins the team at an exciting and pivotal time for the game with expanded men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups the pinnacle of major calendar reform, providing unprecedented certainty and opportunity for performance nations.
“Simon is an experienced and successful operator who is able to understand how to extract the best from teams. His skill set will complement the wealth of experience and talent that we have within our high performance unit, working with Peter Horne and the wider team to implement strategies that add depth to the competitiveness of the international game.”
Director of high performance Horne said: “We have traditionally played a supporting role, getting teams who have qualified for a Rugby World Cup ready for the tournament. However, calendar certainty gives us an exciting new mandate to work with teams over a longer period of time to prepare them for not just World Cups, but new competition structures.
“With all his experience, his understanding of the needs of unions and the high-performance landscape for performance unions, Simon is perfectly placed to help us drive forward in partnership with unions to build a more competitive game on the road to Rugby World Cups in the USA. We are excited to be working with him.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Good on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
19 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
19 Go to commentsGrant, the first time I have seen an article written by you. Maybe I have missed your previous stuff. These days all professional players effectively play a common season so all top players are equally tired, or rested. That is the job of the coaching ticket to build squad depth and juggle resources so players are ‘ fresh’ when the big games come. Possibly Ireland are less inclined to juggle squad compared to Rassie, who is prepared to take the risk to rest players as well as build depth throughout the year so come WC he has a full squad, experienced and rested enough to win 7 games. After all, to win WC you need to get through the tournament and then win the final big 3 games. Ireland should try and build a bit so come final 3 they are ready. So far only played final 1(QF). I am so looking forward to the Irish tour. Hopefully Rassie has enough time to align his guys, as he draws them from across the globe, and not from 2 sides locally( eg Leinster, Munster). No excuses, going to be exciting.
19 Go to commentsIn football, teams get fined and sometimes docked points for deliberately fielding weakened teams yet Leinster can pretty much do as they please with no comebacks. Could it be because Ireland run the URC? Could it be that Ireland run the ERC? Whichever it is, it stinks!!
5 Go to commentsIreland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
19 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to commentsSo Ireland will be tired, despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Case in point; Leinster sent a B squad to SA for their last two games while their first xv rested up and trained at their leisure for the sf vs Saints at the so called ‘neutral venue’ of Croke Park. So tired? Do me a favour… And as for “people’s champions”? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win 6N. And of course plenty of inconsequential test friendlies without any real pressure. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
19 Go to commentsSurprising how standing down or benching a player can do wonders for their motivation. Several players this week in that category.
2 Go to commentsHaha lads lads lads, that’s how you have a holiday In Majorca
4 Go to commentshit on Lynagh was defo late and card-worthy. The other 2 are bang on OK. Hurts you at Test level if youre timing is off and the nostrils are flared. Jerry C knew when to lean in on one, Finau just needs to keep his discipline and head straight.
5 Go to commentsSlade was exceptional against Gloucester. Not only was he doing the classic Slade stuff of running amazing lines and timing passes to perfection to put his wingers into space, he was kicking goals, flying off the line smashing people and crashing into rucks like a flanker… his hair even looked on point. 😍
1 Go to commentsThat’s really sad, hope everyone involved is ok. At least he had pants on.
4 Go to commentsTo be fair it was nowhere bear the Leinster first team (for which, btw, Leinster copped nothing like the outrage that Jake White did for sending a rotated team to the UK). But it’s fun to watch the Stormers doing their thing. They are attracting big, diverse crowds of young fans, and deservedly so. Great to see.
1 Go to commentsIt might be legal but he’s sailing pretty close to the wind. Not a lot needs to go wrong for Finau to end up in the bin. Was it late? Not quite, but borderline. High? A couple of CM within the laws, no room for error with that one. Did he wrap the arms? There was a token effort to wrap one arm, the intent was clearly to hit with the shoulder. So yeah, it’s legal, just. But as we all know, a very slight change in the dynamics could easily have him seeing red. Hopefully not when it really matters.
5 Go to commentsCan we also show some love for Tane Edmed’s fantastic draw and pass? Put his body on the line and committed the defender before letting go of that pass. Flawless skill.
5 Go to commentsYou forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time. For Rassie, a loss is never a loss because he uses it as a chance to learn and improve. Sometimes during a game, again like the England match in last year's Semi Final.
7 Go to commentsDanny don't care. He pretends to care but he don't. He says all this stuff to justify his reasoning but no one can claim that legitimately. He knew exactly what he was doing and wondered if his old team mate would overlook it, which he did. Ref has got to be sidelined or properly trained. It's one thing for refs to move up the ranks but if it was me I would require refs to either have played in different clubs or not at all having the temptation to bias in high stakes games like this. This has got to be stamped out. But then again World Rugby is so destroying the game of rugby in an attempt to be more “safe” and “concussion free”. What they are doing is making it more infuriating for the fans and more difficult for the refs to officiate evenly and consistently. It's fast become Australian Rules football. If guys don't want concussions, they should have played chess. Stop complaining you oldies of the game. When they played the game was vastly heavier hitting than it is now but of course they can't see that.
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