'I didn't want to hit anyone, I hated inflicting pain': Vilikesa 'Billy' Sela

With Thomas du Toit’s departure back to South Africa this summer confirmed, Bath are increasingly putting their faith in the England U20 international tight-head who took some time in his earlier years to adjust to the physical side of the game.

Will Stuart’s long-term Achilles injury has also contributed to Sela taking on a more prominent role, but it’s noteworthy that the one-time academy reject has been chosen to wear the number three jersey ahead of his mentor du Toit, who was voted the best tight-head in the world in 2025, for the third time in less than a month.

Firstly, Sela held his own in the scrum against Toulon in the pressure-cooker environment of the Stade Mayol in the Champions Cup and was again chosen as the starting tight-head against the behemoth Exeter pack in last weekend’s PREM battle. Again, Sela didn’t look out of place and was still able to make an impact in open play, in attack and defence, despite giving his all in a series of energy-sapping scrums.

His performances against Toulon and the Chiefs were good enough to convince Johann van Graan that Sela could be trusted to start tonight’s crunch Champions Cup clash away to Castres, another French team who’ll not give an inch in the tight exchanges.

However, the Hounslow-born player, who moved to the West Country because of his Fijian father’s job in the British Army, says that the contact side of the game was not something that came naturally to him, despite being big boned genetically.

“I really love the skill side of the game, the offloading, which is what Fijians are normally known for, that’s the thing that really caught my attention (as a schoolboy in Lyneham, Wiltshire),” he said.

“I always had a problem with the physical side, because growing up, I didn’t want to hit anyone, I hated inflicting pain. My mum had to give me a chat and say, ‘this is how the game’s supposed to be.’

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Investec Champions Cup

Castres

20 - 43

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Bath

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If Sela does become du Toit’s heir as the pre-eminent tight-head at Bath, it will be a remarkable outcome for someone who was once considered quitting the game, aged 16, after being released from the club’s academy.

“That was probably one of the toughest moments for me in my career,” he said in an interview in the latest issue of Rugby Journal.

“When I first got accepted into the academy, I was like ‘oh, I’ve made it, this is my place now’. And then I think I got too complacent.

“At the time (I was dropped), I was just pissed, and I generally just wanted to throw rugby out of the window. That’s how bad it was. My brother was still at the academy at the time, so he would be going off training, but then my mum would force me to come to watch.

“Watching him play at Farleigh (House) kind of motivated me to go further with rugby. I ended up picking it back up at my local club, and from there, I got put into the last DPP (Developing Player Programme) sesssion to get into the academy, and that’s when I got picked up again (at 17).

“From there, it kind of skyrocketed and now I have no idea what I’d be doing without rugby.”