'Proper athlete': Wasps' first impression of All Black Vaea Fifita
Jimmy Gopperth has hailed the immediate impact that former All Blacks forward Vaea Fifita has made at Wasps pre-season training since his recent arrival in England. The 29-year-old Tongan-born but New Zealand-schooled player was unveiled as a Premiership club signing on June 30. Last capped by the All Blacks in July 2019, the flexible forward – he can play at back row and lock – has pitched up in Coventry ahead of the new 2021/22 English league season and has already had some eye-catching moments on the new Wasps training ground at Henley-in-Arden.
Having won the 2016 Super Rugby title with the Hurricanes alongside current Wasps duo Brad Shields and Jeff Toomaga-Allen, Fifita has immediately got stuck into the way of life in the English Midlands and the question now is how quickly his new teammates can get up to speed with his game-breaking style of play.
“Vaea is an athlete, a proper athlete. Big, strong, powerful, fast. He is very good with the ball in hand. He is very tall so his off-loading game is really, really special. It’s a case of when he has got the ball something is going to happen, so the guys are just trying to read him and getting on his opportunities so he can create,” enthused Gopperth.
“He is going to add another dimension to our ball carrying and defensively he has already put a few good shots in during training. He fits our mould really well as being physical but yet very sort of very agile, you can play him on the edges or you can play him in the middle. But from what everyone has seen of him so far he is an All Black and you can see why.”
The veteran back Gopperth turned 38 in June and while age isn’t on his side in a career where his latest contract extension will only take him through to the end of next season, his longevity at the club did produce one perk – first dibs at claiming a place in the new Wasps training ground dressing room as the divvy-up was decided on the length of service.
"Lawrence Dallaglio had a conversation with Mitch and Mitch said he was available and it went from there…"
– Ex-England assistant John Mitchell is 18 years older than Lee Blackett and the Kiwi's stellar CV is very different to that of Wasps' rookie boss https://t.co/s7GR4QWrM0
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 31, 2021
“We were very sure about how it worked,” he said, explaining the process of how upwards of 50 places in the locker room were allocated. “The guys who have been here the longest and got the most caps, we ranked them in order in blocks. The most experienced guys, the guys who have been waiting for the longest for this (new training ground) to happen, got first dibs and then we just went with how many caps you have for Wasps.
“Fortunately, I was in the first group so all the older guys took the corner spots but there is not a bad seat in the house. It’s just nice to have everyone involved in the one changing room.”
'Half my mates who have already retired say, ‘Don’t retire. Do as much as you can because it’s hard on the other side’
Staying fit at 38 ?
Giving up All Blacks dream ?
How rugby changed ?
The kick that haunts him ?@jimmygopps talks to @heagneyl ???https://t.co/5u0qxKNIOE— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 25, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments