'There are frustrations, definitely': Nakarawa finally ready to play for Glasgow after 11 months absence
Eleven months since his last game of competitive rugby, Leone Nakarawa is set to make his Glasgow Warriors return against Edinburgh on Saturday. The hulking Fijian last played for the Warriors in late February before the pandemic shut the game down, and a troublesome knee injury has prevented him from seeing any action since.
Given the frequent setbacks in the Nakarawa recovery, Glasgow head coach Danny Wilson was understandably cautious about his prospects but expects to be able to utilise the lock in the rescheduled 1872 Cup match at Scotstoun.
“He trained again Tuesday in a full what we call a red session, a high-intensity session, and he seems to have gotten through that up to now,” Wilson said. “If that’s the case we should get him to a place where he will have some involvement this weekend.”
Nakarawa returned to Fiji during the initial lockdown period last year and remained there until October following the birth of his first child and the passing of a close family member. Glasgow’s strength and conditioning staff could not monitor his rehabilitation as closely as they would have liked and there has been some angst privately about his condition upon returning to Scotland.
Nakarawa resigned for Glasgow in the summer after a short stint last season following his acrimonious exit from Racing 92. He is only contracted to the end of the campaign, and the fear is Glasgow’s marquee acquisition may have proved a highly expensive mistake.
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“There were a number of reasons for him not being here for such a long period of time, some that were maybe in his control and some that we know were not and we really 110 per cent supported everything he had to go through in that period,” Wilson added.
“Now he is back, he has worked hard. The frustrating part was he came back and he wasn’t where we needed him to be if I’m brutally honest. With a long layoff, not being able to physically contact or treat him or get our S&C staff involved with him while he was in Fiji was a real challenge and a really difficult situation. That led to the knock-on effect of where we are now.
“There are frustrations, definitely, but since the last few months, he has worked hard to get back to fitness and get his knee strengthened to a place now where we are going to put him out on the field. Fingers crossed we get there this weekend.”
At his peak, Nakarawa is one of world rugby’s foremost talents, a unique blend of outrageous off-loading craft and fearsome athleticism. It would be unwise to expect miracles from a player out of action for nearly a year, but getting the Fijian up to speed would offer the struggling Warriors a mighty boost.
Nakarawa’s future beyond this disrupted and fraught season, though, remains unclear. “A fit Leone, a Leone that is the player we have all seen, 100 per cent I’d want to keep him,” Wilson continued. “But Leone and everybody else needs to see him confident again, out on the field and playing the style of rugby that we all know he can play.”
Wilson confirmed that Glasgow are close to recruiting at least one fly-half, with Adam Hastings long-term injured and bound for Gloucester at the end of the campaign and Pete Horne requiring an extended break to recover from a concussion. Academy player Ross Thompson and versatile South African Brandon Thomson are his only remaining options.
Warriors have recently been in talks with Worcester and Scotland pivot Duncan Weir over a return to Scotstoun, and have been linked with former Munster playmaker Ian Keatley, whose Benetton contract has been terminated early.
“Short-term, we need a 10,” Wilson said. “Short-term being the next four-six months. Ross Thompson is an academy player on an academy contract who is getting some exposure now, but we need someone to come in and tide us over for the remainder of this season. And in the longer term, we wanted to recruit at least one if not two 10s. In the very short term, I should be able to give you some news on that in terms of both those situations.”
Report in Italy claims "his performance was deemed ‘inadequate’ by the club"#GuinnessPRO14https://t.co/p6pNrTz5LH
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 12, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 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 …
31 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
4 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!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 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.
31 Go to comments