Drua Reject, Bolaca Deserves Better
He was the darling of the Fijian men’s rugby sevens team when they won the gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan. His quote: ‘If you get tired, don’t tired’ went viral on social media.
Riding on the crest of that wave, nippy Napolioni Bolaca became the first player to sign-up for the Fijian Drua as they prepared for their debut in last year’s Super Rugby Pacific competition.
He was tagged as ‘Fijian Drua Number: 1’
There were promising signs that the 26-year-old was destined to be our key playmaker either at No.10 or No.15.
Former Fijian men’s sevens head coach and now Edinburgh’s skills coach Gareth Baber once told this newspaper in 2020 after watching Bolaca play for Yasawa in the Skipper Cup competition, that if he is guided well he would be our X-factor in the fifteens game.
After his selection for the Drua, Fiji Rugby general manager High Performance Unit, Simon Raiwalui, had remarked: “Naps is World Rugby sevens series top points scorer for 2019/20 and will be an excellent backline utility option in the squad as a flyhalf or winger.”
Why?
Sadly, this did not eventuate as Bolaca’s promising rugby career came to an abrupt end.
On May 5, a Fiji Rugby Union press release indicated that Bolaca’s secondment to the Drua had come to an end and he was to return to the national sevens team for all its major assignments for 2022. The release also indicated that the move was for the best interest of all parties concerned, which seemed highly unlikely. Bolaca played in only three Super Rugby matches but did not start in any of the three games.
According to Super Ruby stats, he played a total of 43 minutes, which is a bit more of one half, which is 40 minutes.
Why drop him when there were five other players who played less than three matches during last year’s Super Rugby season and even worse one of them did not play at all but is still in this year’s squad.
There were also allegations of him having attitude problem and
was not Super Rugby material. If that is the case then what was the use of all the accolades made during his selection.
However, for a highly qualified coach of Baber’s caliber, who is a Swansea University graduate and later obtained his Masters from Oxford University, to be able see such potential in Bolaca, speaks volume of this Yasawa native’s ability to make it big in the rugby world. Baber knew the sacrifices his men, where Bolaca was a major part of it, had to endure, which
was more than six months of training away from their families when the world was gripped by this killer pandemic. This was on their way to win the Olympic Games gold medal.
Next move
It’s great to see Bolaca back in the national sevens extended training squad and playing for Waidigi Salvo in the McDonald’s Coral Coast Sevens tournament. For now it’s Fiji’s best that Bolaca turns his attention to France and try to secure a contract with either a Top 14 or ProD2 club as he cannot be playing sevens rugby all his life. He must follow the footsteps of his Olympic team-mates of Jiuta Wainiqolo, Sireli Maqala, Asaeli Tuivuaka, Vilimoni Botitu, Aminiasi Tuimaba and Semi Radradra
This is the way to go for Bolaca, since this is the only best way for him and his family to have a secured future especially at the end of his rugby career.