The Fijian Drua men’s skills and development coach Ifereimi Rawaqa has been appointed interim head coach for the Rooster Chicken Fijian Drua Women for the 2025 Super Rugby Women campaign.

The former Flying Fijians lock takes over from Mosese Rauluni, who resigned from the joint position of Fijian Drua women and Vodafone Fijiana XVs head coach following the recent WXV competition in Dubai. The appointment was made by the Drua and Fiji Rugby Union.

Fijian Drua chief executive officer Mark Evans said: “We asked Ifereimi to step-up and into the Drua women’s head coach role on an interim basis as we approach the crucial 2025 Super W’s campaign and are grateful for his acceptance,” he said.

“Ifereimi is one of the most respected coaches in Fiji and the region. His commitment to our club and to rugby in Fiji is second to none and the Drua women will be in good hands with him for this upcoming season.

“Ifereimi taking charge on an interim basis allows both the Drua and FRU to take our time to conduct a thorough, coherent recruitment process for the substantive head coach.”

Rawaqa said: “It’s an honour to take charge of the Rooster Chicken Fijian Drua women for the upcoming Super W season.

‘This is an important season for the women as the foundation of Fiji’s preparation for the 2025 Rugby World Cup.

“One of my first priorities is to work with the Drua Women assistant coaches and FRU high performance unit to bolster depth in our squad.

“The Drua women have a proud record in Super W, winning the championship twice in three years and making three consecutive grand finals.

“We’ll start pre-season earlier this year and I’m really looking forward to working with all the players and staff.”

Rawaqa has been in integral member of the Drua coaching staff. He leads recruitment and manages the entire pathway for players contracted to Drua development.

Recently, he has recently led the high performance set up for the soon-to-be-launched Drua Academy (schoolboys between the ages of 17–18) and was personally involved in the selection of the first ever Drua academy players cohort.

Rawaqa is one of Fiji’s most prolific Flying Fijians with 44 Tests under his belt. He has been part of two Rugby World Cup campaigns (2003 and 2007). And was also a member of the 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens winning team.

He has a World Rugby Level 3 coaching accreditation. He started his coaching journey in 2013 with the Lautoka Rugby Under-20 team and taking on the head coach role for the main side in 2014.

Rawaqa moved to Australia in 2016 to become a Rugby Talent ID and development officer at Kaizen Hill, before returning to be part of the Fijian Latui coaching staff for the Global Rapid Rugby competition.

He has previously been the forwards coach for the Fiji Warriors and in 2022 was head coach for Police for the prestigious Ratu Sukuna Bowl.

In 2023 Rawaqa was the head coach for the Fiji U20 team to the Oceania competition and U20 World Rugby Championship in South Africa, where Fiji had an impressive outing.

Feedback: leonec@fijisun.com.fj