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The Vakatawa verdict on first game back after ending his retirement
By Liam Heagney
Virimi Vakatawa has given his reaction after playing his first match on Friday night since coming out of retirement. It was September 2022 when the France midfielder announced that he had to retire from playing with immediate effect.
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It emerged that the 32-cap Test centre had been banned from playing by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby’s medical committee due to a cardiac issue but after being sidelined for 11 months, he returned to playing at the age of 31 when lining out for Pat Lam’s Barbarians versus Samoa in Brive.
The Baa-Baas lost 14-28 to the Samoans, who are just weeks out from starting their Rugby World Cup campaign with a September 16 clash with Chile in Bordeaux, but Vakatawa was chuffed to get through 55 minutes as a starter in his midfield partnership with Curtis Rona, the former Wallabies centre.
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Despite understandably looking a bit off the pace physically following his year out, Vakatawa reportedly showed a couple of nice touches and was given a standing ovation by the Stade Amedee-Domenech when called ashore with the score reading 0-18 with 25 minutes remaining.
Asked how he felt his comeback appearance has gone, Vakatawa told rugbyrama.fr: “Yes, everything went well, thank God. Obviously, we only had a week of preparation while Samoa have been training together for a long time, so it was a bit tough, especially on defence. But overall, I’m happy.”
Vakatawa a rejoué au rugby. Et il s’est fait plaisir 🙏pic.twitter.com/nv7w1nTY7R
— Clément Mazella (@ClementMazella) August 18, 2023
Vakatawa has previously played for the Barbarians in their June 2022 Twickenham win over England when the invitational side was coached by Fabien Galthie, the France national team boss.
It was Bristol director of rugby Lam who was in charge of the Barbarians on this occasion and he was said to be very satisfied with how Vakatawa’s comeback had gone, adding that he wouldn’t rule out seeing the player again another day.
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Having finished up last year with Racing and France, Vakatawa is now a free agent and it will be intriguing to see if he seeks out a professional contract on the back of this return to play with the Barbarians.
