‘Tongan Thor’ a priority target for new Waratahs supremo

New Waratahs rugby boss Simon Raiwalui identified Wallabies prop Taniela Tupou as a key recruitment target and expressed confidence in the Tahs returning to success after being officially announced as the franchise’s new director of performance.

As revealed on Wednesday, Raiwalui was appointed in the powerful new role after the former Wallabies assistant coach steered Fiji to the quarter-finals at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which included a shock victory over Eddie Jones’ Australia team.

The 49-year-old, who grew up in Sydney and played for Manly, will officially commence his role in September, after finishing up his current job in high performance for World Rugby. He will be responsible for both the men’s and women’s programs at the Waratahs.

Speaking to media on Friday after his Waratahs appointment was confirmed, Raiwalui said he would get to work straight away and had already been involved in meetings about the final head coach candidates, and spoken on the phone with several key player recruit targets, too.

The former Fiji international didn’t elaborate on names but he confirmed Tupou was a star he would like to have in the sky blue next year. The powerhouse prop is looking for a new club after the Rebels were shut down, and Raiwalui coached Tupou for two years at the Wallabies in 2018 and 2019.

“It would be very nice. Taniela is a great young man,” Raiwalui said. “He needs a home where someone can show him some love. If he is available, we will chat to him.

New Waratahs director of performance Simon Raiwalui.

“There are a couple of [ex-Rebels] players I have had conversations with, I won’t give you their names. They’re very important to what I see as our success, and what we need to put a spine in place for the team to have success. There are certain players, not as many as you think you there would be.”

With many ex-Rebels players looking more towards Queensland than a coachless NSW, however, Raiwalui said he appreciated the importance of quickly filling the head coach role. Scott Wisemantel and Dan McKellar are the leading canidates.

“My job doesn’t start officially for another two months but I will be in the role from day one, and contacting certain players and staff and giving them a level of comfort and recruits. I do get the sense of urgency,” Raiwalui said.

“What I will say is we have a great selection of coaches available to us, who have made themselves available to us. And we will get a really good coaching staff out of it.”

Raiwalui said he leapt at the chance to apply for the new director of performance role when it was floated by Rugby Australia’s head of high performance Peter Horne.

“It tickled my fancy straight away,” he said. “I grew up in Sydney … so it was an opportunity to come home.

“I genuinely wouldn’t have taken the job if I didn’t think the Waratahs [men’s team] are a success in waiting. They have the bones and they have the pillars, and the people in place to have success.

“I have been in the roles for two days so you may need to give me a bit more time to figure it all out. But I just want to get the club back to its DNA. What is a Waratah and what does it mean to play for the Tahs. I am going to lean on people who have been there.

“I am a people person. My biggest strengths are dealing with people, so I will get to know everyone personally in the Waratahs and the Waratahs women’s [program]. We have good bones there and we are expecting success.”

“At the moment it is a little bit in transition, Australian rugby. They have made some really great recruits, Peter Horne and Joe Schmidt and those guys. There is real stability, for the first time in three or four years, since I was there. There wasn’t much stability then either. What Australian rugby needs is that stability, and the growth from schoolboys through to colts through to grade, and up through Super. And once you have a stable system, you get success.”

Last year he helped knock the Wallabies out of the World Cup. Now his job is to fix the Waratahs

The man who masterminded Fiji’s historic triumph over the Wallabies at the 2023 Rugby World Cup has been recruited to help rebuild the Waratahs and take the battered team back to the pointy end of Super Rugby.

Simon Raiwalui, a former Wallabies assistant coach who steered Fiji as head coach to the quarter-finals last year in France, is set to be announced as the Waratahs’ new director of performance after a global search.

The position is a powerful new role, which will sit above the Waratahs head coach and take control of all elements of the rugby program at the now Rugby Australia-owned franchise.

Raiwalui’s appointment is expected to be announced on Friday. He will take part in the final stages of the recruitment of a new Waratahs coach, which has Scott Wisemantel and the newly available Dan McKellar as leading candidates.

Raiwalui was on Michael Cheika’s staff as forwards coach of the Wallabies between 2018-2019, but finished up at the 2019 World Cup. The former Fijian international second-rower joined that nation as general manager in 2020 before taking over from Vern Cotter as head coach eight months before the World Cup.

After downing England at Twickenham in the build-up, the 49-year-old oversaw the Flying Fijians’ most successful World Cup, famously beating Australia 22-15 in St Etienne and making it to the last eight.

Simon Raiwalui at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Raiwalui took up a high-performance role with World Rugby after the World Cup but has decided to return to the cut and thrust of franchise rugby in his home state.

He beat former Melbourne general manager Nick Stiles to the job. Former Brumbies and Connacht coach Andy Friend was being strongly considered earlier in the month but withdrew, as did Billy Millard, the Australian head of rugby at Harlequins in London.

Along with the head coach, Raiwalui’s role will be all-important in reviving the Waratahs fortunes, and he will need to hit the ground running.

The Waratahs finished last in Super Rugby Pacific after a season that featured just two wins. And after the departures of several senior forwards – and captain Jake Gordon exploring a release to play in France – the team remains in a state of flux.

The Tahs and Rugby Australia had earmarked several big stars from the Melbourne Rebels to move to Sydney for 2025, but with no coach and no general manager in place, many of the Rebels players have been baulking. The Waratahs are aiming to bring Taniela Tupou and Rob Leota to the club, at least, but missed Carter Gordon, who elected to sign with the NRL’s Gold Coast Titans earlier this month.

Another Rebels player who NSW were keen to recruit, lock Josh Canham, announced on Wednesday he had signed with the Queensland Reds. Others are set to follow, like Filipo Daugunu, and even rising winger Darby Lancaster has been linked with the Reds.

Some off-contract Waratahs players are weighing up their future and are desperate for certainty on the coaching front.

As the man who will oversee the Tahs’ list management, Raiwalui’s knowledge of many rugby competitions and environments, both at home and abroad, should see him well suited to the Waratahs head of performance role.

Raiwalui has an extensive rugby history in NSW, having grown up in Tempe and played for the Australian schoolboys and under 21s, via a club career at the Manly Marlins, where he played alongside Willie Ofahengaue.

The big lock quickly became known as a hard man of the Shute Shield, before moving overseas in 1997 to play in Wales and England, and eventually Test rugby for Fiji. He played 43 Tests between 1997 and 2006, and played at the 1999 World Cup.

Raiwalui moved into coaching in France after he retired – at Racing 92, Stade Francais and Biarritz – before being called upon by Cheika in 2018.

In a similar move, the Brumbies have announced respected West Harbour coach Cam Treloar as their new general manager of professional rugby.

Having been in tense battles with Rugby Australia for much of the past year, the Brumbies and head office are edging closer towards an agreement that will see the Super Rugby franchise come under control of RA, in a similar fashion to the Waratahs.