Rumours of Nakawara's Racing exit gain pace following UK sighting
Conjecture surrounding where Racing secondrow Leone Nakawara will end up playing his rugby is mounting following an appearance by the forward in the UK.
Nakarawa was named EPCR European Player of the Year last week, with the big Fijian lock helping Racing 92 to reach the Champions Cup final in which they were narrowly defeated by Leinster at Bilbao’s San Mamés Stadium.
In recent weeks it has been rumoured that the Fijian is not happy at the Parisian giants and is seeking to move back to the UK, with two clubs having been linked with the formidable lock.
The Scotsman are reporting that he is unhappy at the club despite the side’s superstar status in Europe and is eager to return to Glasgow Warriors.
Adding to those rumours, he was spotted at Glasgow’s Pro14 semi-final match with Scarlets in Scotstoun on Friday night. However, the Warriors may not be able to compete with salaries on offer elsewhere. The Scotsman report that he is currently on £380,000 at Racing, a figure that Glasgow may not be able to stretch to.
He has also been linked with a move to Northampton Saints. Saints last week added England veteran James Haskell to their books but may well be interested in signing a player as versatile as Nakawara, who is equally adept in the backrow as at lock.
Saints have announced the departure of 17 players, including a number of back five forwards.
RugbyPass revealed him as our choice for the world best player in 2017 and he remains one of the game’s most potent attacking weapons.
Racing 92 teammate Ryan opened up to RugbyPass about the friendly Fijian before their final with Leinster in Bilbao.
“He’ll greet you every morning with a big hug, which is very unusual but is absolutely incredible, he’d put a smile on your face.”
“You see these guys and how talented they are and (wonder) what is their work ethic and you see them train and how hard they train, like Leone and Yannick (Nyanga). You see how hard they train, and that does give you that confirmation in your head that it does take hard work to get to the level that these guys are and Leone does work really hard.”
Prior to the final, he topped the Champions Cup offloading charts with 20, and it’s something that has massively impressed Ryan.
“It is great with GPS in the club that you are able to give yourself that barometer alongside him, that you are able to challenge yourself alongside him every day. Unfortunately I don’t have octopus hands, that he is able to do fastastic offloads!”
“He’s exciting to play alongside, very, very positive, always trying to do something new. It’s different second row partner to what I’ve had but something I’m enjoying it a lot.”
“I love to get challenged everyday so I’m coming into work skipping going in every day. I leave Leone to do the off-loading stuff.
And Ryan quipped that the 2016 Olympic gold medalist in Seven’s likes to show off his prize.
“Sometimes he does like to walk into the changing room with his top off and with his Olympic gold medal on his chest!”
The 30-year-old Fijian has been with Racing since 2016, joining the French side after three years with Glasgow Warriors.
On top of his 47 appearances for his native Fiji, the athletic lock is also an Olympic gold medal winner, scoring a try in the 2016 Summer Olympics gold medal match against Great Britain.
Comments on RugbyPass
I’d be fascinated to see what other candidates you all might have for the Lions captaincy role. Let me know, below 👍
1 Go to comments“ planning for the next cycle….” Sigh ill-advised language Elton old juice bean. Ppersonally glad you self-eliminated yourself, there were better players in the position around you.
3 Go to commentsRegardless of best in world etc. Lawes was outstanding against Leinster and has been all season. Looked like three try saving turnovers. His turnovers also contributed to NH scores. Immense performance.
2 Go to commentsDickson now considered the top ref in England it appears. Good that these series are getting one NH and one SH ref.
1 Go to commentsI don’t think any coach or selector would ever rely on Blackadder being available for selection. I didn’t think it would be possible but he has easily eclipsed Ennor as they most injured player of all time. IMO a symptom of today’s game where players are required to carry at least 10kg of extra mass from when they first hit the scene in their early 20s. Some players respond well to this, maybe due to genetics allowing them to recover faster, or not having reached their peak natural weight yet, but for others the constant training to maintain their weight eats away at recovery time and they spend most of their careers injured.
4 Go to commentsThanks for the lesson Nick! I presume that targeting gaps is situational because if a ball carrier straightens the line they can't be allowed a gap to run into? It feels like you need depth if you're going to pass it wide and plenty of variety - straight running, kicks just in behind, cross kicks etc. BTW what an incredible bench Toulouse had this week. People complain about Leinster being stacked but they need to be at the very highest level.
18 Go to comments2015 was by far the best team. They have had many good backlines over the years but the 2015 team was one of the few to have an absolute world class forward pack - all of them international quality. 6 ABs, 1 future English player, and one that would have gone on to ABs had he not been forced to retire due to concussion. This current team doesn’t have the same size and experience at lock, but providing they can keep this many talented young players (who have all significantly increased their profile this year) together for another 2 years they could eclipse the 2015 team.
2 Go to commentsAnd I’ve just seen RA has topped up the offer to Paisami and extended it beyond 3 years and he’s signed. Great news
72 Go to commentsInteresting watching Amaua starting to fire. No idea why he was pulled so early against the Reds.
4 Go to commentsNice to read something positive about Vunivalu; it doesn’t happen often. I despair for rugby in Oz. Unless some form of compensation for the teams producing players is devised, there is no obvious way for us to combat poachers coming to grab players in their prime with bigger pay cheques. A return to the SR crowds we were getting in 2010-2014 and a quadrupling of the TV deal would be a start but I don’t see how those things happen. Perhaps the government could be encouraged to deliver tax breaks like in Ireland?
72 Go to commentsI wasn’t aware that the blitz targeted space so, as usual, something learned from reading one of your articles, Nick. Watching the game live I attributed the Saints’ inaccuracy to their own mistakes and nerves. Perhaps some credit to the Leinster D.
18 Go to commentsGotta give it to you Graham, you support your players and team to the hilt. There may be strains of exaggeration laced throughout but gotta love the passionate parochialism.
2 Go to commentsNice one Nick. No doubt Vunivalu’s involvements and work rate are improving this year in attack, but I still think he is too raw on the defensive and backfield part of his game to be considered as a starter. Wales would just kick and run it to his side all night as the brumbies have done to good effect in the past. But, his size/power will keep him in the convo with Mark N leaving and Petaia’s injury record. Hunter definitely enjoying an injury-free run this season and being given the keys by Kiss - I have always been a fan of his. All I’d say is that his triple threat has been evident since 2020/21. I remember him making a grubber for a petaia try after the siren to beat the Brumbies in Canberra after the 80th minute in 2021. Lastly, Jock Campbell, who I know isn’t at the top of your list, I thought had alot of positive involvements in the saders game including both of Tim ryan’s tries and Mcreights
72 Go to commentsAg please, Pieter Stef Du Toit has played circles around this clown.
2 Go to commentsJust celebrating the Bok’s 1648th consecutive day as RWC champions. They are also the Qatar Airways Cup winners, which I know BennieBoy cares about a lot.
2 Go to commentsGood to here positive stories towards Aus Rugby. Although that might be the case, and highers up are right about Jordie, I wouldn’t stress trying to retain him. What I have seen of him in recent times is that he’s not using that something special. I feel there a better ‘something special’ options coming through that they won’t have to compete with league for, hell even in Kerevi and Paisami (isn’t it great to finally see his ability getting recognized, probably taking this article in isolation too much here).
72 Go to commentsgreat article! I wonder whether we will we see Ireland adopt the Nienaber blitz? All the teams who have tried it so far (SA included) have gone through significant teething problems in the first season; Ireland could possibly be in the unique position of being able to switch to a hard blitz in season 2 of a world cup cycle and already have so many players used to the system that it can be implemented seamlessly.
18 Go to commentsThey probably left another 20 on the field to be fair. Also - the officiating was… ordinary.
1 Go to commentsblackadder isnt a key player at all you cant say hes been the best player or a key all black when hes injured every week
4 Go to commentsThat loss to the Blues still stings! The Reds have fallen short in 4 of the 6 games decided by 7 points or fewer. Are they not fit enough to close out the close games or are there tactical issues when games go down to the wire? The pleasing thing is no Australian side can better the Reds record of 3 wins from 5 against Kiwi sides but the Brumbies can match it. Les Kiss has instilled a belief in the Reds that they can match it with all the New Zealand sides.
72 Go to comments