When joining the locker room at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, after the second French victory of the summer tour on July 9, Virimi Vakatawa surely did not know that he was playing his last match in the French jersey. Two months later, the NRL’s medical commission banned him from continuing to play at professional level in France, ending his career prematurely in his adopted country.
Press release – Virimi Vakatawa
— Racing 92 (@racing92) September 5, 2022
For more than ten years, the player of Fijian origin shone on the grounds of France and Europe, sometimes on the wing, sometimes in the center. A symbolic versatility of his career, during which he tested everything, while remaining faithful to his first love.
From an early age, Virimi Vakatawa thought only of the oval ball, and wanted to try everything. In his province of southeast Fiji, he finds clubs that allow him to alternate between rugby union and rugby league, two very popular disciplines in the country. At 17, his good performance in his high school team caught the eye of his compatriot, Racing 92 winger Sireli Bobo. “I was playing XIII, we were winning every week and journalists were writing my name”he told Le Figaro in 2016. “Bobo saw it on the internet and he called my school to find out if I wanted to come to France. I said yes straight away.”
Landed in the Hauts-de-Seine in 2009, Vakatawa finished his training and this time discovered high-level rugby union. Gradually established in the European Cup and then in the league from the 2011-2012 season, Vakatawa gained in game intelligence and physical strength, after hours spent in the weight room. A discipline he continues to follow even after leaving the Ile-de-France club in 2014, after seeing his playing time reduced.
Always open to new challenges, the Fijian was poached by the staff of the French rugby 7s team to finish the 2013-2014 season. Now surrounded by six teammates, his qualities explode in the eyes of the public. Armed with his speed, his percussion, his footwork and his explosiveness, he easily adapts to the demands of the discipline, the third he has tested since his debut. Versatility praised by all his coaches: “Offensively, he has something I haven’t seen in any player. He’s a gem”explained Frédéric Pomarel, his coach in the jersey of the France team at 7, at Figaro.
Virimi Vakatawa’s career can be summed up above all in two love stories, with the blue jersey, and that of Racing 92. Arrived in France at the age of 17, the young Vakatawa has only one desire: to defend the colors of the ‘French team. The dream becomes reality thanks to the rugby 7s group, of which he quickly becomes an essential element. After his first successful outings, the FFR offered him a two-year federal contract. Vakatawa blends into group life, with a major objective: to qualify France for the Rio Games, for the return of the oval ball to the Olympic fold. Mission accomplished in July 2015, by winning the Seven’s Grand Prix Series, the biggest European tournament in the discipline.
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On the sidelines of his debut at 7, Vakatawa obtained French nationality, which made him eligible to join the XV of France. Watched by Philippe Saint-André, who summoned him without giving him a chance, he was finally called up to Guy Novès’ first list for the 2016 Six Nations Tournament. selections at 7 and XV.
His beginnings with the XV of France are sparkling. Holder from the first match against Italy, he scored his first try after a quarter of an hour of play, and was named best player of the game. At the heart of a bleak period for the Blues, he is often talked about for his desire and his explosiveness. Vakatawa is then part of the Japanese adventure for the 2019 World Cup, where he takes part in three of the four matches played by the Blues.
In parallel, all his professional career, Virimi Vakatawa knows only one club, Racing 92. After three years of federal contracts, the winger decides to return to rugby union and finds his training club at the dawn of the 2017 season, obviously. Promoted indisputably, he scored 24 tries in the Top 14 between 2018 and 2020, and established himself as one of the best players in the world.
Racing remains his lifelong club, even after more difficult recent seasons. Bothered by injuries, Vakatawa no longer weighs so much on his team’s game. He is not part of the winning blue group of the 2022 Six Nations Tournament, and plays what will remain his last match for the Sky and White on May 15, against La Rochelle. Before his forced farewell, for implacable medical reasons, at the dawn of a new season which will be played without him.