Iliesa Samusamuvodre Tanivula (born 20 September 1975) is a former

New Zealand sevens The New Zealand national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens, Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. They have won a record 14 World Rugby Sevens Series titles. The team played for the ...

player and the current coach of the Fiji sevens team. Tanivula could play most positions in the backline. He mainly played at

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

or fullback.

Playing career

Tanivula was a secondary school sprinter in Fiji and attended

Natabua High school Natabua High School is a co-educational school based in Lautoka, Fiji. It is one of the biggest schools in the Pacific with a total student number of 1200. The school was founded in 1930 as a boarding school for boys and was moved to its present ...

. He was a soccer star in Fiji, playing for the Fiji Under-17 before joining the Auckland Development XV in 1997. Tanivula returned to Fiji in 1998 to play for his home side Nadi in the Farebrother Sullivan Trophy challenge against Suva and that was where Tanivula's talent was spotted by Eddie Jones who signed him up with the

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses wh ...

. He made his debut for

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

for their

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship (NP ...

(NPC) competition in 1999 and in that same year they won the NPC. He had offers from the ACT Brumbies as well as the

Auckland Blues The Blues (; known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 1999) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established b ...

to be part of their

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

team after having a short stint with the Brumbies in 1999. After playing for the blues in the 2000, He was selected into the

side he made his debut for the

Otago Highlanders The Highlanders (; formerly the Otago Highlanders) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that compete in Super Rugby. The team was formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island in the newly formed Super 12 competit ...

in 2001. Tanivula was named player of the NPC in 2003 after his brilliance performance in guiding the Auckland side to another victory as they retained the title. Tanivula headed to Japan in 2005 to represent the

Kamaishi Seawaves Kamaishi Seawaves is a Rugby union football Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport# ...

. A series of injuries to both of his knees ended his playing career in 2006.

Coaching career

Tanivula coached the

Nadi Nadi (, ) is the second-largest city in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 59,707 at the most recent census, in 2017. Nadi is multiracial with many of its inhabitants Asians, India ...

rugby team in the Digicel Cup and in 2008 he created history by winning the Farebrother Sullivan Trophy as well as the Digicel Cup. He also guided the

Western Crusaders The Western Crusaders is a Fijian former rugby union team that had a franchise area coverering Lautoka, Nadi, and Yasawa. The team played in the Colonial Cup (rugby union), Colonial Cup from 2004 to 2008 before the competition ceased in 2008. His ...

team which won the Colonial Cup. In early 2009, he guided the

Fiji Warriors The Fiji Warriors, also referred to as Fiji A, is a national representative rugby team of rugby union in Fiji. It is the second-tier side to the Fiji national team. The Warriors team is selected from players in the Fijian domestic competi ...

team to the 2009 Pacific Rugby Cup defeating the

Upolu Samoa Upolu Samoa is a former Samoa rugby union representative team that played in the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup from 2006 to 2010. The other Samoan team in the Cup was Savaii Samoa. The players for Upolu Samoa were selected from all rugby union competition ...

team in the final. His impressive work pleased the

Fiji Rugby Union Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Fiji. It is divided into over 30 provincial unions. The Fiji Rugby Union is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA), along with Samoa and Tonga. There are ...

and they offered him the head coaching job of the Fiji sevens team, a position left vacant after the termination of

Waisale Serevi Waisale Tikoisolomoni Serevi (born 20 May 1968) is a Fijian former rugby union football player and coach, and is a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Serevi is renowned for his achievements in rugby sevens, while also enjoying a long car ...

's contract. He coached his first sevens tournament in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

where Fiji was bundled out in the quarter finals. the following week in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, Fiji was bundled out in the quarters again. He then coached Fiji to the

2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2009 Rugby sevens World Cup was the fifth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected Dubai in the United Arab Emirates as the host venue for the tournament ahead of bids from four other countries. The f ...

where Fiji lost in the quarter finals again and thus losing their world champions status. A few weeks later he turned the table in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

when Fiji defeated

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and claimed a first win in 2 years. He then coached the side to the

2009 World Games The 2009 World Games () the eighth edition of the World Games, were an international multi-sport event held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (under the name Chinese Taipei) from 16 July 2009 to 26 July 2009. The games featured sports that are not contested i ...

where Fiji defeated

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

to retain their gold medal. Fiji lost at the

2009 London Sevens The London Sevens is played annually as part of the IRB Sevens World Series for international rugby sevens (seven-a-side version of rugby union). The 2009 competition took place on 23 and 24 May in London, England, and was the seventh Cup trophy in ...

but won a week later at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

and finished 2nd in the season under Tanivula's guidance. Tanivula renewed his contract with the FRU for another 3 years hoping to guide Fiji to the

2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the sixth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The tournament was held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. New Zealand won the tournament, defeating England 33–0 in the final. Attendance for the tourname ...

but he was fired in 2011 and replaced by the inept

Alifereti Dere Alifereti Dere (born 29 September 1961) is a Fijian former rugby union footballer and coach. He played as a flanker. Along with fellow Fijian rugby players Mesake Rasari, Niko Baleiverata, Fili Seru, Kinivuwai Ratuvio, Pita Naruma, Etuate Gu ...

who failed to win the Melrose Cup just like his predecessor as the team finished 3rd. Tanivula returned to coaching in the Digicel Cup with Nadi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanivula, Iliesa 1975 births Living people Fijian rugby union coaches Rugby union wings Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union centres Fijian rugby union players ACT Brumbies players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Australia Highlanders (rugby union) players Blues (Super Rugby) players Auckland rugby union players