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Fijian Drua name first players in debut Super Rugby Pacific squad

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

The Fijian Drua have announced the first five members of its inaugural Super Rugby Pacific squad for the 2022 season.

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The five players unveiled by the new expansion franchise are 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Napolioni Bolaca, one-test hooker Tevita Ikanivere, Bay of Plenty speedster Onisi Ratave, experienced loose forward Nemani Nagusa and young halfback Simione Kuruvoli.

Bolaca headlines the quintet given his success and experience in the Fijian sevens set-up in recent years.

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A utility back in XVs, the 24-year-old was a key member in Fiji’s successful rugby sevens Olympic Games title defence in July and was named in the 2019/20 World Rugby Sevens Series Dream Team after finishing as the series’ top point-scorer that season.

He will be joined in the backline by Ratave, who will be a familiar name to some New Zealand-based Super Rugby fans after setting the early stages of this year’s NPC alight while playing for Bay of Plenty.

The electric winger has scored three tries in just two outings for the Steamers and has been involved in the Fijian sevens squad since last year.

At the age of just 21, Ikanivere, a former Fiji U20 representative, made his test debut in Fiji’s Autumn Nations Cup win over Georgia last November and will look to add to his solitary test cap through his performances with the Drua next year.

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Nagusa is by far the most experienced of the five newly-recruited players, having played 18 times for Fiji between 2012 and 2019.

With professional experience with Aurillac in France’s Pro D2 and the Newcastle Falcons in the Premiership, the 33-year-old is set to provide the Drua with valuable experience in its maiden Super Rugby Pacific campaign.

Kuruvoli, meanwhile, is among the youngest of the new signings, but the 22-year-old, another ex-Fiji U20 player, boasts two test caps after playing against Georgia last year and then starting against the All Blacks in Dunedin two months ago.

Interim Fijian Drua chief executive Brian Thorburn said in a statement that he was delighted with the first wave of player announcements, with the remaining 32 players set to be announced over the course of the next several weeks.

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“We’re steaming ahead towards our historic first season, and today’s naming signals our intentions – we are going to delight rugby fans with that typical Fijian flair and playing style,” he said.

“It also underscores our commitment to offer a pathway for Fijian players into Super Rugby. The competition is about to get a whole lot more exciting, and we can’t wait for rugby fans to see our Fijian Drua in action.”

Fiji Rugby general manager high performance unit Simon Raiwalui echoed Thorburn’s sentiments as he emphasised the Drua’s intent of recruiting and developing homegrown talent.

“All five players unveiled today are homegrown and have come through our Fijian Sevens, age group or high performance programmes,” he said.

“It is wonderful to be able to reward these players with a professional contract to play in the world’s best club rugby competition.”

The Drua are also expected to announce its coaching staff in due course with pre-season scheduled to take place in Australia from mid-October.

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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