Fijian Top 14 Stars to Watch vs. Blues | Rugby Analysis

Well-known faces. Fiji coach Mick Byrne has brought back the same 15 players who fell with honors against England last week to challenge the French XV on Saturday (9:10 p.m.) in Bordeaux. The three-quarter line will be familiar to the Blues, since they will find the Bordelo-Béglais Salesi Rayasi at the back, the Racingmen Selestino Ravutaumada on the wing and Josua Tuisova in the center, and the Lyon winger Jiuta Wainiqolo, while the Clermontois Pita-Gus Sowakula takes place again on the third line. “You have them at club, you know very well what the individual level of these players is. We cannot underestimate them. It’s a team to take very seriously.”warned Fabien Galthié. Focus on five players who are setting the French championship on fire.

Rayasi, the nugget passing through Samoa and New Zealand

Before joining European champion UBB this season, Salesi Rayasi discovered France last year, playing for a season with Vannes, who had just been promoted to the Top 14, with whom he scored 6 tries in 21 matches. “He’s above. It’s easy, sometimes a little too easy. It’s our X factor. Anyway, if we want to maintain ourselves, we need players like that.”had confided to West Franceat the start of the season, Simon Boisbluche, the physical trainer of the first Breton club to join the elite.

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At Bordeaux-Bègles, the Fijian must face competition from French internationals, Damian Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey on the wing, but also Romain Buros at the back. But his profile fits into the recruitment of the Girondin club: “Players adapted to our game project based on speed, acceleration and explosiveness. Athletic profiles that fit perfectly into our dynamic.”

Before becoming a Fijian international like his father, the solid winger (1.93 m and 108 kg) had been an U20 international for the Samoans then at 7 with New Zealand. Before arriving in the French championship, he had worn the colors of the Wellington Hurricanes from 2019 and quickly did great damage in attack (30 tries scored in 53 matches). During his first cap with Fiji against Australia last July, his coach, the Australian Mick Byrne, spoke of him as a“a very accomplished, very talented player. I like the way he trains. He also works a lot off the field, understanding his role perfectly.

Ravutaumada, potential to be confirmed

After the departures of Donovan Taofifenua (Montpellier), Tristan Tedder (Perpignan), and Henry Arundell (Bath), the leaders of Racing 92 recruited once again from Fiji and enlisted the versatile Selestino Ravutaumada (25 years old, 9 caps) who can play on the wing but also at the back. The latter – who participated in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (defeat in the final against Antoine Dupont’s France) – previously played in the Fijian Drua province with whom he had scored 12 tries in 47 matches in four Super Rugby seasons. When he left, he confided: “I’m really going to miss playing in front of my mother, my family and my friends… As well as in front of this noisy audience who never gave up on us this season.”

A XV international since 2023, he was elected man of the match during Fiji’s first victory against England in August of that same year at Twickenham (22-30), delivering two assists. He then participated in three matches (Wales, Georgia, Portugal) during the World Cup in France. For his debut with Ciel et Blanc, he scored in a friendly match against Brive but injured his thigh. Returning to competition, he then played three matches this season with Racing on the wing.

Tuisova, the terror of the Top 14

Since 2013, he has terrorized all the defenses of the Top 14. Josua Tuisova arrived in Toulon, then coached by Bernard Laporte, in complete anonymity but he very quickly asserted himself, becoming an impressive ball of muscles, one of the most feared players in our championship. Mammoth percussions, golgoth charges, the Fijian shone at the RCT before wearing the colors of Lyon then Racing 92, where he became essential at each outing. In 2021, the Olympic 7s champion in 2016 also finished top scorer in the Top 14 (14 tries), ahead of Matthis Lebel (Toulouse, 13) and his brother Filipo Nakosi (Castres, 12).

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«He’s the kind of winger you hate to face. With the ball he is very strong. He’s small but so strong. He’s a huge player, a phenomenon. One on one, he is unstoppable. had underlined the Englishman Richard Cockerill, former coach of the RCT. This Saturday, Nicolas Depoortere will have a lot to face this “powerful player” Who “wreaks havoc”. And to continue: “I’m a little used to playing against him now. I will try to review my matches and actions of how I was able to counter it or not! Because I didn’t always succeed in my tackles on him. (smile) He’s a big piece in this Fijian team.”

Wainiqolo, the dynamite of the Pacific

Another phenomenon that ignites the Top 14. Jiuta Wainiqolo is capable, through his dazzling performances, of unlocking any situation. Also with the Fijian Drua, he then spent four seasons at RC Toulon (2021-2025) where he scored 37 tries in 86 matches, before joining Lyon this season, where he has already scored 6 times in five matches. In the Var, the 7-a-side Olympic champion in Tokyo in 2021 was able to remain essential despite competition from Gabin Villière and Gaël Dréan, a talent in the making. Pierre Mignoni had confided about the rise in power of his Pacific dynamiter: “When Jiuta is like that, he’s very, very dangerous. It’s an X factor. It puts a lot of doubts in opposing defenses. When he’s like that, he does us good.”

Against Bordeaux-Bègles, last June, he scored a superb try at the end of a crazy ride in the Gironde defense. “It is impressive in its ability to change direction without having a lot of loss of acceleration and speed,” greeted Thibault Giroud, the UBB performance director. Beware of danger. “When it’s a little complicated, we simply say to ourselves: “Give the ball to Jiuta and let him do it.” We’re probably better off doing that than following our playing combinations.”jokes his opener Caleb Muntz, who plays for Provence Rugby (Pro D2).

Sowakula, the former All Black of the pack

If the majority of the “Fijians of France” play behind, we still find in the pack a player who plays in the Top 14. Pita-Gus Sowakula has indeed worn the colors of ASM Clermont Auvergne since 2023. Easily recognizable with his salt and pepper hair and beard, the solid third row (1.95 m, 112 kg) did not arrive alone in France, since his partner Toka Natua, pillar of the New Zealand Black Ferns (31 years old, 1.70 m, 96 kg, 24 caps) was also involved with ASM-Romagnat (Elite 1). At the time, Pita-Gus Sowakula was also an All Black since he had worn the black jersey with the silver fern twice in July 2022, coming on as a substitute against Ireland (one victory and one defeat). Except that by choosing to join France, he made himself unselectable for New Zealand and, three years after his first caps, he became eligible for Fiji. An atypical journey for someone who first played at a high level in… basketball.

After a period of adaptation, he took advantage of Fritz Lee’s absence to gain confidence. What Christophe Urios then welcomed in April 2024: “Today I see him happy. He was at the start when he arrived but the fact that he wasn’t playing was complicated for him. He also finds legitimacy, because he arrived with the label of X factor but he did not play much and when he did play, he was subpar. It was hard for him, especially since he is very introverted and reserved.” This season, he is experiencing some difficulties with ASM, notably against La Rochelle where one of his passes leaving the scrum was intercepted and led to a try by the Maritimes. Or during the defeat against Racing 92 (43-31), where he attempted a kick over the defense which finally recovered the Ile-de-France residents and transformed into a try by Jordan Joseph. “When I take players out at half-time, it’s because the guys aren’t good,” had then scathed the Auvergne manager.