He will be assisted by former Pirates inside back Hayden Finch, while former Super rugby assistant coach Murray Roulston will also give a helping hand.
Vaafusuaga (44) is no stranger to premier club rugby. He played 269 games at the level for both Taieri and Green Island.
He takes over the job with the top Taieri side from Jason Macdonald, who has commitments with the Otago union.
The club won the title last season with a commanding win over University in the final.
Vaafusuaga is not mincing his words over what the goals are this season.
''We want to win it again. That is what you set out to do at the start of the season and that is what we want to do,'' he said.
''We aim to be as successful as last year. With the team we have we are having one eye on the future and getting some new guys coming into the team. A lot of guys who have been in the team for a while are in their last year of study and will be looking to move on.''
The side started with a warm-up game against Arrowtown over the weekend and will play Southern and University in the coming weeks.
The club competition starts on March 21 with Taieri set to play Pirates, followed by Green Island the following week, the two bottom teams from last year's competition.
On the field, key back Kieran Moffat has gone overseas, while back Kurt Schroder has hung up his boots.
Back Will McKee is playing overseas and may be back in May, while prop Nick McLennan is still in Perth and it is unclear whether he will come back and play at this stage.
The side will again be captained by Charlie O'Connell, who will miss part of the pre-season as he is getting married this Saturday.
Hayden Parker will turn out for the team when he can, while other Highlanders Kane Hames and Elliot Dixon will play when not required for Super rugby duty.
With the Taieri colts side making the premier colts grade final last year, there was some good young talent coming through and a couple of youngsters from Tauranga Boys College first XV had joined the squad, Vaafusuaga said.
Pre-season had been going well, although Peter Johnstone Park was in need of some rain.
