Written By : VILIKESA RINAVUAKA. Army and Suva lock Leone Nakarawa goes from strength to strength in this Rugby World Cup (RWC) after picking up a contract with the Saracens Rugby Club. He’s also just been voted into this week’s team of the week by the New Zealand Herald.
Hailing from the island of Kadavu, with maternal links within the province of Ra, Nakarawa has proven to be one of the outstanding locks of this RWC and his selection into the RWC team of the week only underlying his potential. At 24 years of age Leone’s best years are no doubt still ahead of him.
But while Saracens may have just earned themselves a star buy it’s another Saracens player who’s desperate to get his first game in the RWC this Sunday. Winger Michael Tagicakibau must have narrowly missed selection last Sunday against Samoa and now he’s itching to get a run on spot this Sunday against Wales.
“Yeah definitely would have been an honour and a privilege to play last week against my brother but it was not to be,” Tagicakibau said.
“Looking forward now to this game against Wales it’s still a big and important game for us as a team and for me it’s a last chance to get a run out in this World Cup and I’ll be pushing this week and hopefully get a chance to get on this week.”
Tagicakibau candidly admits in his last game for Fiji – last month versus Tonga in the Punjas Series – he had problems with confidence after returning from a lengthy spell away from the game due to a shoulder injury.
The Lasakau villager though believes he’s now more than ready to meet the challenge of Wales should he be selected.
“Well I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to get up there in this World Cup, this week is probably the biggest week for me, it’ll be good for me I’d like to go out there and have a good game against Wales.”
This morning the Flying Fijians held a recovery session at the pool and then had lunch on a boat on Tauranga Harbour. This gave the players time to regroup and reconnect with each other as a team.
Tomorrow training starts in earnest with a gym session in the morning and then field work in the afternoon.
Until tomorrow, moce mada.