Five perfect fits for Fijian prospects in the Gallagher Premiership
Among others, Edinburgh announced the signings on Monday of Fijian players Eroni Sau and Kalione Nasoko.
Sau recently made his debut for the country’s XVs side following a productive stint in the shorter format of the game, whilst Nasoko is the captain of the Gareth Baber-coached sevens team, who currently sit third in the HSBC World Sevens Series.
Mesulame Kunavalu has also been on trial at the Scottish club and RugbyPass understand that Amenoni Nasilasila would have been on his way to the Scottish capital if it were not for the legal proceedings being brought against him in Fiji.
The Scottish Rugby Union and Edinburgh have become adept scouters of talent in the Pacific in recent years with Viliame Mata the most recent success story, whilst Leone Nakarawa’s rise to global prominence happened at Glasgow Warriors a few seasons before that.
It’s an area where they have an edge on many of their English rivals, but the recent Pacific Combine has presented an opportunity for a number of players from Fiji to take on board some high-performance coaching and plump up their CVs in the hopes of earning a contract in the Gallagher Premiership.
We have taken a look at five of the leading players at the Combine and come up with some perfect fits for them in English club rugby.
With Richard Wigglesworth possibly looking at the 2019/20 season as the final one of his career or at least moving into a smaller role, as Neil de Kock did previously, Saracens’ scrum-half depth could be tested. Ben Spencer may well be more involved with England in the next cycle, Henry Taylor’s career has unfortunately stalled due to a number of injuries and Tom Whiteley is the only other nine on the club’s roster.
Lomani has forced himself past Nikola Matawalu and Henry Seniloli to become Fiji’s starting scrum-half and was able to showcase his talents for the Barbarians at the end of last year. A stint at Saracens would certainly improve his conditioning, game management and defensive responsibility, all things which Fiji would prize highly when he is called up for international duty.
If, as reported in South Africa on Monday, Steven Kitshoff is passing up a big-money offer from Sale in order to stay with the Stormers, Steve Diamond is going to be in the hunt for an alternative at loosehead. Sale value an efficient set-piece, but we understand they have been looking to improve their carrying options in that area.
Mawi is not the finished article in the front row yet, but he is someone who can hold down the loosehead side for Sale in conjunction with Ross Harrison, as well as giving the side from the north-west someone who can get them moving forward with the ball in hand. With Sale losing minimal front row resources during international windows, they can deal with Mawi’s occasional absences with Fiji.
Mesulame Dolokoto to Leicester Tigers
The signing of Tatafu Polota-Nau was always going to be a short-term fix for Leicester, whilst Jake Kerr’s rise has put him squarely in the sights of Scotland. Bringing in a powerful carrier like Dolokoto would help give Leicester something they have been missing since Harry Thacker packed his bags and headed to Bristol, whilst there are the alternative options currently at the club that would mean the hooker doesn’t need to be rushed into action. He can instead work on his set-piece consistency before taking up a more regular role in the matchday 23s when he is organically ready to.
Thankfully for Dolokoto, he picked up his third cap for the Fiji in November, something which should now make it possible for him to secure a visa in the UK, should a Premiership club come looking. Like Mawi, he can pack a punch with the ball in hand for a tight five forward, something Leicester do miss on occasion, especially when Ellis Genge is away with England.
Veremalua Vugakoto to Newcastle Falcons
Newcastle have shown no caution about going after Fijian players before and they have benefitted from the likes of Vereniki Goneva, Nemani Nagusa, Tevita Cavubati and Josh Matavesi in recent seasons. The club are probably going to struggle to keep all three of Kyle Cooper, George McGuigan and Santiago Socino in the years to come, especially with Cooper beginning to attract the attention of the ‘bigger’ clubs, so Vugakoto could be an excellent fit for the Falcons.
At just 21 years of age, there is still plenty of work Vugakoto needs to do and with that strong trio of senior hookers in place for the moment and a number of Fijian players on the roster to help with the acclimatisation process, Newcastle could also be the perfect fit for him. Like Dolokoto, he also met the cap threshold for visas during the November internationals.
Caleb Muntz to Exeter Chiefs
This is unlikely to be a move that could happen until next year, with Muntz, 20, currently involved with the Fijian U20 and Warrior sides and has yet to win his first senior cap. That could well change after the Rugby World Cup, though, at which point he would be an intriguing prospect to add a different dimension to Joe Simmonds and help ease the burden on the veteran Gareth Steenson.
The structure that Exeter play with is going to be vastly different to what Muntz is used to with Fijian representative sides and growing up in New Zealand, so it could be a nice fit for rounding out his game and giving Fiji a long-term fly-half prospect. If he goes down the Fijian Drua route, he risks then being seen as a full-back when or if a move to Europe materialises, just as it has for former Drua fly-half Alivereti Veitokani.
Watch: Fiji 7s team thrown into chaos with off-field issues
Comments on RugbyPass
The 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?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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!
3 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 …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments