Fijian Drua name first players in debut Super Rugby Pacific squad
The Fijian Drua have announced the first five members of its inaugural Super Rugby Pacific squad for the 2022 season.
The five players unveiled by the new expansion franchise are 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Napolioni Bolaca, one-test hooker Tevita Ikanivere, Bay of Plenty speedster Onisi Ratave, experienced loose forward Nemani Nagusa and young halfback Simione Kuruvoli.
Bolaca headlines the quintet given his success and experience in the Fijian sevens set-up in recent years.
A utility back in XVs, the 24-year-old was a key member in Fiji’s successful rugby sevens Olympic Games title defence in July and was named in the 2019/20 World Rugby Sevens Series Dream Team after finishing as the series’ top point-scorer that season.
He will be joined in the backline by Ratave, who will be a familiar name to some New Zealand-based Super Rugby fans after setting the early stages of this year’s NPC alight while playing for Bay of Plenty.
The electric winger has scored three tries in just two outings for the Steamers and has been involved in the Fijian sevens squad since last year.
At the age of just 21, Ikanivere, a former Fiji U20 representative, made his test debut in Fiji’s Autumn Nations Cup win over Georgia last November and will look to add to his solitary test cap through his performances with the Drua next year.
Nagusa is by far the most experienced of the five newly-recruited players, having played 18 times for Fiji between 2012 and 2019.
With professional experience with Aurillac in France’s Pro D2 and the Newcastle Falcons in the Premiership, the 33-year-old is set to provide the Drua with valuable experience in its maiden Super Rugby Pacific campaign.
Kuruvoli, meanwhile, is among the youngest of the new signings, but the 22-year-old, another ex-Fiji U20 player, boasts two test caps after playing against Georgia last year and then starting against the All Blacks in Dunedin two months ago.
Interim Fijian Drua chief executive Brian Thorburn said in a statement that he was delighted with the first wave of player announcements, with the remaining 32 players set to be announced over the course of the next several weeks.
“We’re steaming ahead towards our historic first season, and today’s naming signals our intentions – we are going to delight rugby fans with that typical Fijian flair and playing style,” he said.
An All Blacks coach says the work ethic of rookie loose forward Ethan Blackadder should serve as a lesson for those aspiring Kiwi youngsters aspiring for test honours. #AllBlacks #RugbyChampionship https://t.co/vT4Fyxecyi
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 20, 2021
“It also underscores our commitment to offer a pathway for Fijian players into Super Rugby. The competition is about to get a whole lot more exciting, and we can’t wait for rugby fans to see our Fijian Drua in action.”
Fiji Rugby general manager high performance unit Simon Raiwalui echoed Thorburn’s sentiments as he emphasised the Drua’s intent of recruiting and developing homegrown talent.
“All five players unveiled today are homegrown and have come through our Fijian Sevens, age group or high performance programmes,” he said.
“It is wonderful to be able to reward these players with a professional contract to play in the world’s best club rugby competition.”
The Drua are also expected to announce its coaching staff in due course with pre-season scheduled to take place in Australia from mid-October.
Comments on RugbyPass
Great work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
35 Go to comments