Former Flying Fijians lock Ifereimi Rawaqa has joined the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua coaching staff as the team's new Skills and Development Coach.
The Drua says Rawaqa joins the Club at an important time to strengthen its coaching ranks and take charge of the development group.
They say Rawaqa has a World Rugby Level 3 coaching accreditation and has excellent experience as a coach and a player with 44 caps for the Flying Fijians.
Rawaqa started his coaching journey in 2013 with the Lautoka Rugby Under-20 team and took on the Head Coach role for the main side in 2014.
Rawaqa moved to Australia in 2016 to become a Rugby Talent ID & Development Officer at Kaizen Hill before returning to be part of the Fijian Latui Coaching staff for the Global Rapid Rugby competition.
He was the forward coach for the Fiji Warriors, and in 2022, he was Head Coach for Police for the prestigious Sukuna Bowl.
This year, Rawaqa was the Head Coach for the Fiji U20 team at the Oceania competition and U20 World Rugby Championship in South Africa, where Fiji had an impressive outing.
The Club says Rawaqa is one of Fiji’s most prolific Flying Fijians and has been part of two Rugby World Cup campaigns in 2003 and 2007, and he was also a member of the 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens-winning team.
Fijian Drua CEO Mark Evans says having Rawaqa on the coaching staff is great for the Drua.
He says they are committed to building capacity among local coaches and high-performance staff and Rawaqa is a great fit for them, not just because of his experience as a player and a coach, but his specific knowledge of the Fijian rugby landscape.
Evans says Rawaqa has two very important roles in his position with the Drua making sure their squad has the skill sets required for first-class rugby and ensuring their development pathway is ready to step up to the requirements of Super Rugby Pacific when needed.
The CEO says he has already started working closely alongside Mick Byrne and their coaching staff in his new role, and they are very excited about what he brings to the Fijian Drua.
The Fijian Drua’s 2024 Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific season starts on February 24th against Blues in Auckland.
