Joe Cokanasiga's remarkable rise from performing the Cibi for Fiji at RWC 2015 to making England's 2019 squad
Joe Cokanasiga performed Fiji’s traditional Cibi war dance at the 2015 World Cup’s opening night, all the while thinking he would never play in the global spectacle. Just four years on he has forced his way into England’s 31-man squad for the World Cup in Japan and still cannot quite believe it.
England beat Fiji 35-11 at Twickenham to open their home World Cup on September 18, 2015, with Cokanasiga part of Fijian embassy efforts to showcase the Pacific Island. Now England boss Eddie Jones heralds the 21-year-old as “absolutely devastating”, with Bath’s wing powerhouse admitting he had to sharpen up mentally to launch his Test career.
“I was actually at Fiji-England on the opening night of the 2015 World Cup, for the Fiji embassy – we were showcasing our country before the game started,” said Cokanasiga. “I remember the vibe that night, and the whole vibe around the World Cup and thinking that I wanted to do all this one day.
“It didn’t feel possible, but now I am and that all feels a bit weird. We were performing Fiji’s war dance and traditional dances at the front gates at Twickenham. It feels weird having done that and now preparing for the next World Cup with England.”
Cokanasiga was born in Fiji but eventually raised in England as his father served in the British Army. The powerful and pacy runner broke through at London Irish and edged his way into England’s summer tour to Argentina in 2017 when head coach Jones was missing his British and Irish Lions contingent.
‘If you start tweaking with it too much it will probably ruin what is already there’
– @gloucesterrugby prop @FraserBalmain tells @heagneyl he can’t see what difference the latest @WorldRugby scrum law tweak has made ? https://t.co/9Hkkhl9JsO— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 22, 2019
Cokanasiga admits that tour proved an eye-opener on the real requirements of Test level rugby. “It was that tour to Argentina, I got shocked about what I needed to do,” he said. “I was quite immature at the time.
“I assumed everything would come to me, that I wouldn’t need to work hard for it to happen. After Argentina, I sorted myself out. If I really wanted to play for England there was stuff that I needed to change, mentality-wise in particular and take rugby more seriously.”
Cokanasiga’s devastating combination of pace, power and size have elevated him rapidly to the Test stage. But now boss Jones believes he must fight to realise his startling full potential, with the wily Australian coach confident he can hit those heights in this fast-approaching World Cup.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1bf0m3o-C2/
“He’s going through that tough period at the moment, Wales picked on him at the weekend and he has got to find a way to get in the game,” said Jones. “This is a great opportunity against Ireland to show that he can because the potential of the kid is enormous.
“When he has got the ball in his hands and when he gets his high ball catching right, he is absolutely devastating. These are the games he needs to learn how to fight his way through Test rugby.
“He is one of those kids who comes into Test rugby and the first couple of games, he is magic. Someone has blown some dust on him. Everything is good. Then teams work you out. It is like Test cricket. A team gets you out a certain way and then every time you go into bat, they’re looking to get you out the same way.
‘Northern hemisphere teams look threatening, Australia have shown they can beat New Zealand, South Africa have as well… it’s going to be good’
– Justin Marshall talks All Blacks, World Cups, bush rugby, grassroots and fear of spiders to @heagneyl https://t.co/X4FeQmos78— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 23, 2019
“Test rugby is the same. That is the big difference between Test and domestic rugby. When people see a weakness, they go at you and keep going at you. Then the development of the player is, ‘right, how do I fix this? And how do I get around it?’
“Joe is going through that process at the moment. So it’s good for him. The good players eventually always work it out and he is going to be a good player.”
– Press Association
WATCH: England boss Eddie Jones talks “fish and chips rugby” to RugbyPass ahead of Saturday’s match with Ireland
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt 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 commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments