Simon Raiwalui (born 8 September 1974) is a Fijian former rugby union player. He served as the General Manager for his former French club, Racing Métro 92. He has represented Fiji on a number of occasions and is the current coach of the team. He has also been included in the Pacific Islanders (combined Samoa, Tonga and Fiji) touring team for Europe in November 2006. His usual position is at lock.
Early life
Raiwalui was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but was educated in Australia, where along with playing school rugby, played for club side Manly, from Colts level through to the under-21 side. He was also selected to represent the Australian Schoolboys, alongside other footballers such as Ben Tune and Joe Roff.
Rugby career
In 1997 he left Australia to play rugby in England. He joined the Sale Sharks, and later moved to Wales to play for Newport. He joined the Saracens in 2003 and made his debut for the club in September of that year against the Newcastle Falcons.
He qualifies for Fiji through his parents.[1] He debuted for Fiji against the New Zealand All Blacks. While with Newport, he was selected for the Fijian 1999 Rugby World Cup squad.[2] He retired from international rugby prior to the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia, though he came out of retirement for Fiji in the Pacific Nations Cup in 2006, and was then selected in the combined Pacific Nations squad.[3]
In February 2023 he was selected as head coach of the Flying Fijians.[4]
Following their defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup he announced that he would leave his post on December 31, 2023. [5]
