RAIWALUI UNVEILED AS NEW QANTAS WALLABIES FORWARDS COACH UNTIL END OF 2019

Mar 26 • General News, International • 1374 Views • Comments Off on RAIWALUI UNVEILED AS NEW QANTAS WALLABIES FORWARDS COACH UNTIL END OF 2019

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The Qantas Wallabies have announced Simon Raiwalui as Australia’s new forwards coach until the end of 2019.

The former Fiji international will assume the role following the completion of his club duties with Biarritz in France.

The 43-year old will return to Australia for the first time in over 20 years, following an illustrious playing career that included stints with Sale, Newport (Wales) and Racing Metro (France) as well as captaining Saracens in the English Premiership.

Raiwalui’s first coaching role was with Racing Metro in 2012 before moving to arch rivals Stade Francais where he claimed the Bouclier de Brennus (French domestic champions) in 2015.

New Qantas Wallabies forwards coach Simon Raiwalui said: “I’m very excited to move back to Australia and the chance to work alongside Michael (Cheika), Stephen (Larkham), Mick (Byrne) and Nathan (Grey) was one that I just couldn’t pass up.

“I’ve learned so much about the game in the Northern Hemisphere and I think it’s been crucial for me as a forwards coach. There’s so much focus on that side of the game in Europe so I hope I can bring home some of those learnings to Australian rugby.

“The World Cup is a key target of course but I’m very keen to get back home, get to know the players and then help where I can with the Super Rugby teams before the Ireland series coming up,” Raiwalui said.

Qantas Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said: “We had a quality group of candidates for this role from Super Rugby, International Rugby as well as French and English Rugby. Australians and foreigners.

“We had the luxury of taking our time to ensure we had a lot of detail in our selection process and the final choice of Simon was very clear for us.

“His quality of character, along with his technical detail and passion for Australia was a mix that proved a very potent argument for his selection.

“He was a very hard, tough and no-nonsense player from the Manly club, who has gained invaluable playing and coaching experiences in Europe.

“He’s ready to use all of that and more in building on the work of his predecessor to make our Wallaby forward pack one that will lay the platform for our national team’s success over the next two years,” Cheika said.

The former lock represented Fiji on 43 occasions after initially establishing himself for Sydney club side Manly, while he also played alongside Wallaby legends Ben Tune and Joe Roff for the Australian Schoolboys.

Simon Raiwalui
Born: September 8, 1974 (Auckland)

Playing career
Position: Lock
Test caps: 46 (Fiji)
Test points: 20

Coaching career
Racing Metro – Forwards Coach 2012 – 2013
Stade Francais – Forwards Coach 2014 – 2017
Biarritz – Forwards Coach 2017 –

Australia Simon Raiwalui Wallabies