Australia appoints ex-Fiji star Raiwalui as forwards coach

SYDNEY: Former Fiji international Simon Raiwalui was Monday appointed as the Wallabies' new forwards coach and will assume the role once he wraps up his club duties with Biarritz in France.

The 43-year-old was recruited to take over from Mario Ledesma, who left to become coach of the Jaguares in Super Rugby.

"I've learned so much about the game in the northern hemisphere and I think it's been crucial for me as a forwards coach," said Raiwalui, whose contract runs until the end of 2019.

"There's so much focus on that side of the game in Europe so I hope I can bring home some of those learnings to Australian rugby."

Raiwalui had an illustrious playing career that included stints with Newport in Wales, France's Racing Metro and captaining Saracens in the English Premiership.

His first coaching role was with Racing Metro in 2012 before moving to arch rivals Stade Francais where he claimed the Bouclier de Brennus (French domestic champions trophy) in 2015.

"We had a quality group of candidates for this role from Super Rugby, international rugby as well as French and English rugby. Australians and foreigners," said Wallabies coach Michael Cheika. "We had the luxury of taking our time to ensure we had a lot of detail in our selection process and the final choice of Simon was very clear for us.

"His quality of character, along with his technical detail and passion for Australia was a mix that proved a very potent argument for his selection."

The former lock represented Fiji 43 times after initially establishing himself for Sydney club side Manly.