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 twelve World Rugby Sevens Series titles. The team has been o ...

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

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or fullback.

Playing career

Tanivula was a secondary school sprinter in Fiji and he attended Natabua High school and 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's where Tanivula's talent was spotted by Eddie Jones who signed him up with the

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 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 whi ...

. He made his debut for

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

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, o ...

(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 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 previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

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 compet ...

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

Coaching career

Tanivula coached the

Nadi Nadi (pronounced ) is the third-largest conurbation in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 42,284 at the most recent census, in 2007. A 2012 estimate showed that the population had ...

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 from 2004 to 2008 before the competition ceased in 2008. History The franchise was one ...

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 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 a ...

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 ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) 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 second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

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

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, 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

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when Fiji defeated

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and claimed a first win in 2 years. He then coached the side to the 2009 World Games where Fiji defeated

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

to retain their gold medal. Fiji lost at the 2009 London Sevens but won a week later at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...

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 but he was fired in 2011 and replaced by the inept Alifereti Dere 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 Expatriate rugby union players in Australia New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia Highlanders (rugby union) players Blues (Super Rugby) players