Raka debuts for France
Naitasiri winger becomes third Fijian within a month to make his debut for another country. Reece for the All Blacks, Isi Naisarani for the Wallabies and now Raka for France.
France have named their side to face Scotland in Nice tonight, with the Fiji born Clermont Auvergne winger Alivereti Raka set to make his test debut. The 24-year-old became a French citizen at the end of 2018, and is now in line to make his much anticipated international bow. But the Tier 2 Rugby Twitter account shared a surprising stat after this team was
announced, that Raka will become the third Fijian-born player to debut for another country in the space of a month.
He joins Sevu Reece, who started for the All Blacks against Argentina in July, as well as Isi Naisarani, who started for Australia throughout the Rugby Championship. For a long time now it has been the scourge of the Pacific Island nations that their players end up playing for wealthier nations, but it has perhaps never been more apparent that an instance like this.
It must be particularly annoying for Fiji, as it was speculated throughout the Super Rugby season that Reece may choose to play for the country of his birth.
But what is most impressive is that Fiji are still a team that enter the World Cup with a lot of confidence and ambition, boasting some world-class players.
The likes of Leone Nakarawa, Bill Mata, Semi Radradra and Josua Tuisova show Fiji have class all over the pitch
Players cannot be blamed for opting to play for various other countries, as this is ultimately their occupation, and is only lasts for a short period.
But stats like these reveal the reality of international rugby currently, and the financial prowess of some teams, not to mention the potential Fiji would have should they manage to retain their players.