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'It just sucks watching it on TV': Nemani Nadolo on hotel quarantine life with Fiji in France
Veteran winger Nemani Nadolo has provided a fascinating insight into quarantine life with the Fiji squad in France where 29 players and staff tested positive for Covid-19, resulting in the cancellation of three of their Autumn Nations Cup matches.
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Despite having no option but to see France, Italy and Scotland all awarded 28-0 bonus-point group wins, Nadolo and co are still clinging to the hope that they will eventually have a sufficient clean bill of health and will be able to participate in a December 5 play-off match, most likely against Georgia at Murrayfield.
New Leicester signing Nadolo had come out of Test rugby retirement to link up with the Fiji squad that is now under Vern Cotter, his former Montpellier coach. The 32-year-old, who was last capped in June 2018, had been included in the XV that was to start against France in Vannes.
However, that November 15 fixture was cancelled and was quickly followed by the call-off of last weekend’s game with Italy in Ancona and next weekend’s match away to Scotland.
It has left Nadolo, who was one of the few in the squad not to test positive for the virus, kicking his heels in frustration, confined on his own to his bedroom and hoping that the outlook will clear and allow Fiji return to the training ground next week.
Someone please deliver this to my room.i really want to try the pickles and coleslaw ??. #Isolationlife pic.twitter.com/O3dZSWyoQV
— nemzy (@nemani_nadolo) November 21, 2020
Appearing on the latest episode of The Rugby Pod from his hotel room in France, Nadolo said: “We are in high spirits but it’s tough. Personally, being locked up in a room takes its toll but we’re all positive. We have got WhatsApp groups helping each other out, having laughs and whatnot on there so we’re doing alright now.
“We get our own rooms. That was part of it. Everyone in this competition has their own room… but as everyone has read and heard we have contracted it [Covid-19]. We just isolate, stay in our room and follow the rules over here which is ten days isolation.
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“The food and everything else comes to you. You have got to clean your room as well so they bring a bag full of new bedsheets. You’re on your own really. It’s an experience.”
The mass outbreak of the virus in the Fijian ranks was a massive blow for the Autumn Nations Cup as fans around the rugby world were hugely looking forward to what the Pacific Islanders would bring to the tournament.
Nadolo explained that the squad had been flying in training and were excited themselves about what they could potentially achieve. “Leading into it we were all excited about the new squad. There is a lot of young guys come in and then we have got a good balance of the old guys. I myself came back in and I’m one of the oldest guys in the team.
“The coaching staff, the way they have conducted themselves and the way they have gone about things, it’s completely different to my ten years being involved with the squad before and that is what excites us.
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“We were actually preparing really well leading up to France and we had a sense of belief. The backline we were going to put out was every backs coach’s dream. The excitement level was there.
“We actually came into this competition with a genuine chance, a belief that we could do really well. It just sucks watching it on TV, seeing these teams play and we’re cooped up in our rooms. What Vern and his coaching staff have brought in it’s exciting and it’s new.
“They are giving us more licence to be Fijian rugby players, play with a bit of structure but not too much which is good for us. I guess it’s just all talk now. It’s sad to see,” he said, adding that fingers are firmly crossed they will get to play their play-off and at least have one match.
“From what we have been told we’re still going ahead until something else comes up. From what we know we are still involved right until the end. There is a light there… if it was called off I guess we would be home already. At this stage we know we still have a game so hopefully the stars align and we can get on the pitch and show our worth.”
"The back row, Underhill and Curry, what did they make, 7,400 tackles or something between them? It's just madness"
– Last weekend's action didn't have the @TheRugbyPod jumping from its seat #AutumnNationsCuphttps://t.co/368188OPty
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 24, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Jake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
11 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
1 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
11 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
11 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
39 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to comments