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Watch: Josua Tuisova scores just 25 seconds into his Racing 92 debut
By
Josh Raisey
It will be hard to find a player who has made more of an immediate impact on a club than Josua Tuisova did for Racing 92 on Saturday.
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Just 25 seconds into his debut for the Parisian giants, the Fiji centre was spinning through a tackle on the way to the try line in what was his very first touch of the match.
Not only was it his first touch of the match, but it was his first touch in a competitive game in seven months having been out with a knee injury.
The 113kg midfielder injured his knee against England in the World Cup quarter-final last year, which required an operation soon after. He was due to team up with his new club Racing after the World Cup having agreed to the move from Lyon last season.
A whole 22 rounds of the Top 14 season had elapsed and Racing’s entire Investec Champions Cup campaign before the 30-year-old got the chance to don the sky blue and white jersey on Saturday at the Stade Abbé-Deschamps, but he made up for lost time.
Three phases after Bayonne had failed to take Racing’s kick-off, Tuisova was taking a flat ball to the defensive line and pirouetting through a tackler to get the scoring started.
Racing fans got a taste of what they have been missing all season ten minutes later when Tuisova’s centre partner, France’s Gael Fickou, scored Racing’s second. It looked as though it was going to be a winning debut for the Fijian, but the wheels came off for Stuart Lancaster’s side when lock Fabien Sanconnie was red-carded.
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From there, Bayonne were able to claw their way back into the game and triumph 37-28, nudging Racing out of the Top 14’s top four. Still, it was not a bad start for Tuisova.
Watch his try here:
Tuisova n’aura eu besoin que de 25 secondes pour inscrire son premier essai sous le maillot ciel et blanc du @racing92 ⏩
C’est ce qu’on appelle un retour de blessure réussi ! pic.twitter.com/C93GQRsKe4
— TOP 14 Rugby (@top14rugby) May 14, 2024
