The news fell like a hammer blow. Virimi Vakatawa, the three-quarter center of Racing 92 and the XV of France (30 years old, 32 caps) must end his career as a professional rugby player in France. It was the medical commission of the National League which informed the Ile-de-France club on Monday. “Particularly saddened by this terrible news, Racing 92 gives its full support to Virimi Vakatawa and immediately put in place all the measures to support its emblematic player as best as possible in these particularly difficult times”, is it written in a press release published by the club.
For the moment, the medical reason is not known. A press conference will be held at Plessis-Robinson (Hauts-de-Seine), at the Ile-de-France club’s training ground this Tuesday noon in the presence of the player, Jacky Lorenzetti, the president of Racing 92, Laurent Travers, the manager of the club and Fabien Galthié, the coach of the XV of France.
Vakatawa came to Racing from Fiji aged 17, brought to the club by former winger Sireli Bobo. He made his Championship debut in January 2011 and quickly showed his speed. From 2014 to 2016, when he obtained French nationality, he moved away from Racing 92 to evolve with the French team at 7, signing a two-year federal contract and playing in the Rio Games in Brazil. He appeared for the first time in the XV of France in February 2016. In the summer of 2017, he returned to Racing 92 and competed in the 2019 World Cup.
More in difficulty last season, competed by Jonathan Danty and Yoram Moefana, Vakatawa had seen his starting place in the fifteen of France threatened. But he had started the two summer tests in Japan last July.
