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Fijian Drua name 208cm giant in 12-strong 2026 development squad

Jeneriro Wakeham of the Fijian Drua. Image courtesy of the Fijian Drua.
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The Fijian Drua have rewarded 12 aspiring talents for their respective form with training squad selections for the upcoming 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season.

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Four of the group are returning players who have trained with the Drua previously, while eight newcomers bring serious bulk to the emerging cohort.

Jeneriro Wakeham leads the pack in sheer size, offering a 2.08m frame with north of 140kg to throw around. The second-row forward, 22, was recruited by Top 14 giants Stade Français as a teenager, developing in the Parisian club’s system before playing stints with Pro D2 side Stade Niçois and RFU Championship club Ealing Trailfinders. In 2025, Wakeham was involved in the NFL’s International Player Pathway.

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Smatterings of NPC experience feature in the group, with Moses Armstrong Ravula and Pita Manamanaivalu representing Manawatu, while Harold Rounds has represented Bay of Plenty. Moses Armstrong Ravula is the younger brother of 21-year-old Flying Fijian and Fijian Drua playmaker Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula, and also captained the Fiji U20 squad last year. JD Sivivatu Kanth has a background in Australian Rules football and previously had a contract with Andorra Rugby.

Fijian Drua Development Coach Nemani Nadolo-Kuridrani expressed tremendous excitement for the dozen promising players, who will train with the senior group throughout the season, including preseason.

“I’m really excited about the Development squad we’ve finalised,” the former Flying Fijian said. “Many of these players have been standout performers for their clubs, and several have represented Fiji Under-20. They’ve earned their place here, and combined with those who’ve been with us over the past few years, we have a really exciting group. I’m looking forward to working with them throughout the season.”

2026 Fijian Drua training squad

Bogi Kikau*
Breyton Legge
Harold Rounds*
JD Sivivatu Kanth*
Jeneriro Wakeham*
Joshua Uluibau*
Joweli Walevu
Kalioni Ratunabuabua
Maleli Nauvasi
Moses Armstrong Ravula*
Pita Manamanaivalu*
Sairusi Ravudi*

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SB 138 days ago

Hope they do better than last year in the competition.

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GodOfFriedChicken 1 hour ago
Jamie Joseph pinpoints where Highlanders repeatedly fell short in 2026

I’m not saying to have them rely exclusively on high school talent but teams should be able to retain their top local talent rather than lose them to more regularly successful unions on a regular basis. Look at what’s happened to the Manawatu region, who lost the entire Whitelock family and Codie Taylor to Canterbury before any of them could even play a game there. Imports are part of the game but if it’s a top talent that was either raised in your region or already plays in your region at a position that’s not of surplus, you should have more ability to have their rights. Also on the note of Tupou-Ta’eiloa, he moved to Moana because he wants to play for Tonga i.e. the actual purpose of the team.

The salary cap in SRP is very poorly enforced, especially when you compare it to leagues like the NRL or most of American sport. There’s no salary floor, so a team like the Highlanders is regularly spending much less than their other NZ teams and the whole AB top-up system means that you can essentially pay a bunch of good players much less for their SR salary than they’re worth because the players get enough of an AB top-up that their SR salary doesn’t matter. Given that the ABs have eligibility rules that require them to play SR anyway, it shouldn’t be a massive stretch to slightly increase the salary cap but include AB salaries in there. It’s not being “penalised for doing things right”, it’s keeping teams from hoarding talent and making sure the competition stays fair. Happens in the NRL every time but if their systems are as good as advertised (like Penrith, who’ve had to let go of a star every year to a lesser team since their title runs), then they should be able to rebuild. There’s a reason why the NRL’s had nearly every team (except the Warriors, Dolphins and Titans) win a premiership while SR has become top heavy with a lot of one sided results - one competition lets you hoard talent and essentially lets you pay them with hidden money legally, the other makes sure players are paid what they’re worth for the team.



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