Rugby has been the lifeline for many rugby players and former Flying Fijians head coach Simon Raiwalui pays testament to that.
The lanky lock who represented Fiji 39 times was born in New Zealand but grew up in Australia where his rugby chronicle started.
Raiwalui was brought up in a humble family background and rugby was his doorway to the world and to the success he has had until today.
“I’ve loved rugby when I was a kid, I came from a very humble beginning. I had a single mum who worked a lot of jobs to provide for me, my brother and sister.
Rugby gave me an opportunity to go overseas, to earn a living, to have my family and be able to raise them in a certain way that I’ve been able to spend time with them, so I love rugby not just for the sport but for what it has provided me over my career and I’m very grateful to it.”
The 48-year-old left Australia to pursue his rugby career with Sale Sharks in England and later moved to play for Newport in Wales and Saracens in 2003.
All this move pointed him back to his homeland in Fiji where he served his time as a player, Fiji Rugby’s High-Performance Unit General Manager, and the Flying Fijians head coach.
“I was more interested in the pathway and high performance so that’s why I got into that role. By chance the coaching role popped up at the beginning of this (last) year, I didn’t apply for it, but I got asked to apply and the rest is history.
“I had always been an assistant coach. When I was in France, I was an assistant coach, when it came up it was a bit daunting to take up the coaching role because you never know what’s in front of you. But I had certain values in terms of what I expected as a person and how I interact as a player, I thought I could get that across as a head coach and just try to be genuine as possible and treat everyone right and hopefully get the results.”
The Lau man had moved to bigger things as he joined World Rugby as the HPU General Manager.
“I’m not working for one union anymore so obviously looking after that player development and pathways, responsible for the franchise as well so really interesting getting into the other unions and seeing how that works,” Raiwalui stated.
His contract as Flying Fijians head coach expired on December 31, 2023.
