On Tuesday, Simon Raiwalui, the coach of Fiji, said that he would resign when his contract ends at the end of December, despite having guided the Pacific Island nation to a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals.
After Fiji’s championship run was cut short by England in a 30-24 loss in Marseille on Sunday, Raiwalui, who was moved, lauded his squad and said they had set the stage for the upcoming generation of athletes.
“I suppose it’s time to declare it, particularly how Fiji Rugby’s upcoming cycle will appear. On the social networking site X, previously known as Twitter, Raiwalui said, “I will not be pursuing an extension of (my) job with FRU through 31 December.
“Thanks again to the players, staff and all the supporters, it has been quite a ride!”
Fiji Rugby did not promptly meet a request for comment from Reuters.
After Vern Cotter resigned as high-performance director, Raiwalui, a New Zealander, was named coach in February of this year.
In Pool C, Fiji defeated Australia and Georgia but fell short against Wales and Portugal. In their quarterfinal match against England, they came back from 14 points behind to tie the score at 24 in the final 10 minutes, but they lacked the experience to prevail. It was Fiji’s third overall and first World Cup quarterfinal since 2007.
