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Vannes add ex-All Black to ambitious recruitment drive

Francis Saili, Steven Luatua and Charlie Faumuina could all theoretically represent Manu Samoa next year. (Photo by Andrew Cornaga/Photosport)

Vannes continue to prepare for life in the Top 14 after signing former All Black centre Francis Saili, as predicted in Fissler Confidential two weeks ago.

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They had been sniffing around Saili, who earlier in the year was a target for Bayonne for some time. Now that his deal with Racing 92 has ended, he has signed a two-year deal to move to Brittany.

Vannes will be the third French club that he has played for after moving across the English Channel in 2020 from Harlequins to play a key role in helping Biarritz secure promotion to the French top flight.

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      Sarah Hirini on retiring legend Portia Woodman-Wickliffe

      New Zealand Sevens star Sarah Hirini gets emotional when asked by Finn Morton about Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, who will retire after the Olympics.

      Saili, 33, who was a Junior World Cup winner in 2011, won the first of his two All Blacks against Argentina in Hamilton two years later when he was playing for the Blues.

      He moved to Munster in 2015 and, two years later, helped them reach a Pro12 final before crossing the Irish Sea to join Quins but now looks set to finish his career in France.

      The inside centre, who can also play on the outside, made 19 appearances for Racing 92 last season, scoring one try and is the latest player to join Vannes in the last 48 hours and they step up their recruitment drive.

      Castres and Fiji winger Filipo Nakosi has signed on for the next two seasons, while Chilean Iñaki Ayarza, 24, who can play anywhere in the back five positions. He signed up for four years.

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      Ayarza, who was part of Chile’s World Cup squad, will leave Soyaux-Angoulême XV Charente. After joining them a season earlier, he helped them win promotion from Nationale in 2022.

      They also landed former England and British & Irish Lions prop Mako Vunipola after he decided to end his illustrious career with Saracens, where he won Premiership and European Cup honours.

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      J
      JW 2 hours ago
      Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

      It is now 22 years since Michael Lewis published his groundbreaking treatise on winning against the odds

      I’ve never bothered looking at it, though I have seen a move with Clint as a scout/producer. I’ve always just figured it was basic stuff for the age of statistics, is that right?

      Following the Moneyball credo, the tailor has to cut his cloth to the material available

      This is actually a great example of what I’m thinking of. This concept has abosolutely nothing to do with Moneyball, it is simple being able to realise how skillsets tie together and which ones are really revelant.


      It sounds to me now like “moneyball” was just a necessity, it was like scienctest needing to come up with some random experiment to make all the other world scholars believe that Earth was round. The American sporting scene is very unique, I can totally imagine one of it’s problems is rich old owners not wanting to move with the times and understand how the game has changed. Some sort of mesiah was needed to convert the faithful.


      While I’m at this point in the article I have to say, now the NRL is a sport were one would stand up and pay attention to the moneyball phenom. Like baseball, it’s a sport of hundreds of identical repetitions, and very easy to data point out.

      the tailor has to cut his cloth to the material available and look to get ahead of an unfair game in the areas it has always been strong: predictive intelligence and rugby ‘smarts’

      Actually while I’m still here, Opta Expected Points analysis is the one new tool I have found interesting in the age of data. Seen how the random plays out as either likely, or unlikely, in the data’s (and algorithms) has actually married very closely to how I saw a lot of contests pan out.


      Engaging return article Nick. I wonder, how much of money ball is about strategy as apposed to picks, those young fella’s got ahead originally because they were picking players that played their way right? Often all you here about is in regards to players, quick phase ruck ball, one out or straight up, would be were I’d imagine the best gains are going to be for a data driven leap using an AI model of how to structure your phases. Then moving to tactically for each opposition.

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