Mcconnochie banks on chemistry with ‘thoroughbred’ Cokanasiga

Four years on from watching the 2015 final between New Zealand and Australia as an awestruck teenager, Joe Cokanasiga will make a first appearance in the World Cup as a “real thoroughbred”.

That is the verdict of Cokanasiga’s Bath colleague Ruaridh Mcconnochie, the former sevens international and Olympic silver medallist who has made a similarly swift rise to a World Cup debut for England. The clubmates will start on either wing against the United States here tomorrow, just 13 months after meeting one another as new signings for Bath’s 2018-19 campaign.

And Mcconnochie is hopeful that their chemistry can help produce a more fluent performance than England managed during a 35-3 win over Tonga on Sunday.

“Only getting to know Joe last August, it’s been good going through that journey with him,” said Mcconnochie, poised for a second cap after making his Test bow in the warm-up against Italy in Newcastle earlier this month.

“He made his [Test] debut in the autumn and I’ve learnt quite a lot off him. He’s a world-class winger.

“He’s a beast,” Mcconnochie added of Cokanasiga, who has five tries in eight caps since Jones introduced him against Japan last November at Twickenham.

“He’s 118kg and also one of the quickest in the side. He’s a real thoroughbred winger. I like to think that I can play along the back three and 13 at a push – so we’re slightly different, but we complement each other fairly well.”

This tournament is turning into something of a family affair for Cokanasiga. His mother, Kitty, arrives in Kobe today. His sister and his girlfriend fly into Japan next week. Meanwhile, cousin Waisea Nayacalevu scored a runaway try for Fiji against Australia on Saturday. “There have been a lot of messages from the village [in Fiji],” Cokanasiga said. “My parents are saying how proud and excited they are to see their little village represented.”

Cokanasiga does have World Cup history, but only due to a bit-part role for the Fijian embassy as part of 2015’s opening ceremony.

That evening he was dressed in a warrior costume and dancing at the Twickenham gates. The next month, he watched the final in wonder. Tomorrow, the 21-year-old makes a World Cup debut.

“I remember going to the final, All Blacks-australia, and watching that,” he said. “I was thinking, ‘This is unbelievable – imagine playing in one of these games’. It feels weird to be here and playing on Thursday.

“There are days when it gets surreal. You just have to feel grateful for where you are and what you’re doing. Every day is a dream.”