Ex-All Blacks and Wallabies coach set to replace Rugby World Cup hero as Fiji boss – report

Simon-Raiwalui-former-Fiji-boss-and-new-head-coach-Mick-Byrne

Fiji have found their successor to Rugby World Cup hero Simon Raiwalui, according to reports in New Zealand.

Raiwalui took over at the Pacific Islanders following the shock departure of Vern Cotter just seven months out from the World Cup.

The 49-year-old, who was Fiji’s high-performance manager, had a big job on his hands, but he guided them to the quarter-finals of the global tournament following an impressive victory over the Wallabies.

So close to a semi-final

Once there, they faced England and put up a superb fight, levelling the match at 24-24 before the Red Rose edged to a 30-24 triumph.

Raiwalui departed after that clash to take up a high-performance role with World Rugby, and his position with the Flying Fijians is set to be filled by Mick Byrne, the New Zealand Herald reports.

Byrne is currently head coach of the Fijian Drua and guided them to the Super Rugby Pacific play-offs for the first time ever last year.

The 65-year-old is highly regarded around the world, especially with his work as a skills coach – a position he filled at Leinster before moving on to the international arena.

He joined Scotland in 2003 before the ex-Aussie rules football star switched to the All Blacks, spending a decade with the team and helping them to successive World Cup titles in 2011 and 2015.

Following the conclusion of the global tournament in England, Byrne joined his native Australia as their skills guru and held the role for that four-year cycle.

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Landmark finish with Drua

In 2021, Byrne was announced as Drua’s boss ahead of their maiden Super Rugby campaign in 2022 – his first stint as a head coach – and secured a landmark finish in 2023.

They ended their second season in the competition in seventh, qualifying for the quarter-finals where they succumbed to eventual champions Crusaders.

So far in 2024, Drua have won their three home games but have lost the four matches which have been played away, leaving them once again in seventh.

Byrne will reportedly step down from his position with the team at the end of the campaign to join up with the national side ahead of the mid-year internationals.

His opening challenge as boss of the Flying Fijians will be against the Barbarians in June before his first official Test comes two weeks later in Georgia.

After that, they have a match with Spain before the daunting task of going head-to-head with Scott Robertson’s New Zealand outfit in San Diego.

Byrne got the better of Robertson’s Crusaders during the 2023 Super Rugby regular season, but the new All Blacks boss got his revenge in the play-offs.