‘I’ve a lot of bad luck’
Ben Volavola set for Pro D2 after defeat in his Racing battle with Finn Russell
Ben Volavola has called time on his two-year stint with Top 14 club Racing 92 and is set to step down into the Pro D2 division.
The Fiji Airways Flying Fijians first five –eighth has spent the majority of his stay in Paris playing second fiddle to Scotland international Finn Russell, starting just two matches this past season alone. According to the Rugby Pass, that has left him restless for more action and having turned 29 last January, he is now set to forge his own path by signing with second-tier Perpignan whose likely promotion back to the Top 14 was foiled by the recent termination of the French season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I spent a year at the Crusaders. When I got there, Dan Carter had just joined Racing. Then there were the Rebels and North Harbour. I have a lot of bad luck. Then Bordeaux recruited me,” he told Midi Olympique.
“I didn’t succeed what I wanted to accomplish with them. I wasn’t good enough and the club decided to release me before the end of my contract. It was then that Racing extended their hand.”
Volavola was Fiji’s first-choice pivot at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan but his battle with Russell for the No10 jersey at Racing simply hasn’t gone his way after joining the French capital club in 2018 after initially coming to Europe to play a season with Bordeaux.
Volavola’s signing, which is due to be confirmed today, according to French newspaper L’Independant, will be a huge boost for the Catalan Club as they had been hunting a playmaker who could occupy a number of positions in the backline.
The club had reportedly lost out efforts to recruit Scotland’s Greig Laidlaw and former All Black centre Isaia Toeava, who are both said to be leaving Clermont.
The club has now secured the services of Volavola on a oneyear contract that will be electronically signed today after Volavola verbally agreed to the deal with Christian Lanta, the Perpignan sporting director.
Volavola’s club career has seen him do the round at plenty of clubs looking for the perfect fit. He came off the bench in his debut against the Maori All Blacks in 2015 and later played in all four matches at the RWC in England losing to the hosts 11-35, Australia 13-28, Wales 13-23 and winning against Uruguay 17-45.