Durutalo tasked with strengthening Fiji’s rugby pathways

Former US sevens and 15s international Andrew Durutalo has been appointed Head of Men’s High Performance by the Fiji Rugby Union (FRU).

The appointment was made yesterday at the FRU headquarters in Suva, with Durutalo returning to Fiji Rugby with a clear focus on strengthening player pathways and retaining local talent.

“I’m looking to further the development of high performance within Fiji and make sure that our pathways are aligned,” Durutalo said.

“We need to make sure that our pathway is strengthened and obviously continues to evolve as time goes on. Lastly, we need to retain a lot of the talent that we developed.”

His leadership experience includes serving as director of rugby operations and general manager at Hong Kong Football Club, followed by a role as an International Sports Envoy with the United States Department of State.

He holds an Executive MBA from the University of Oxford, a Bachelor of Business Administration from Hakuoh University in Japan and postgraduate studies in International Sports Management through the University of London.

Durutalo wants the programme to develop young athletes beyond their playing careers by providing them with broader career opportunities.

“Not one journey will look the same. We have to find that and make sure we give them the tools for them to succeed,” he said.

“We have a couple of frameworks and structures that we'll put in place, making sure that we retain a lot of talent and the cream of the crop to represent Fiji at the international level with representative age groups as well.”

Fiji Rugby General Manager High Performance Naca Cawanibuka said Durutalo’s appointment was important to strengthening the men’s high-performance pathway.

“Our focus is not only on preparing national teams for the next competition. We are building a sustainable High-Performance system that identifies talent early, develops players and coaches through clearly defined pathways, and prepares them to meet the standards required at international and professional level,” Cawanibuka said.

Durutalo, who hails from Tabuquto Village in Ba with maternal links to Namena in Tailevu, was born and raised in Suva. He attended Stella Marist Primary School and Suva Grammar School before studying at the University of the South Pacific.

He represented Northland in the Digicel Cup and captained the Fiji Under-19 and Under-21 teams. He also represented the Fiji Warriors and Fiji Barbarians before moving to the United States.

Durutalo played sevens and 15s for the US from 2012 to 2018.