The All Blacks have their first coach of Pasifika heritage.

Dave Rennie has been given the job, replacing the ousted Scott Robertson.

Rennie’s Cook Islands heritage comes via his mother, who hails from Titikaveka on Rarotonga, and Rennie even played a non-test match for the country in 1990.

• READ MORE: Other Pasifika rugby reports

Asked about his heritage in his first press conference as All Blacks head coach, he paid tribute to his mother’s legacy.

“She was hardworking, inspirational and . . . she had a massive impact on me and my brothers and sisters. I know she’d be really proud,” Rennie said.

“I’m honoured to represent the Cook Islands.”

Congratulations have come in from near and far, with Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, calling Rennie’s appointment a powerful moment for young Cook Islanders.

“As a son of Takitumu he carries our Cook Islands heritage with him,” Brown wrote on social media.

‘Powerful moment’
“As patron of the Cook Islands Rugby Union, I know how powerful this moment is for our young players. When they see one of our own standing at the helm of the All Blacks they see what is possible.”

Wellington Samoa Rugby Union president Leiataualesa Ken Ah Kuoi said it was time a Pacific person was recognised at the very top level.

Leiataualesa said as a Pacific person in the Aotearoa rugby space he was very proud.

“Of course it will have an impact, a huge impact, to players [and] administrators of rugby,” he said.

“We talk about diversity in rugby in New Zealand and this is a clear message that a Pacific person can do the job.”

Dave Rennie will take up the role in June, with his first assignment in July when the All Blacks host France, Italy and Ireland for three tests in New Zealand.

‘Fair bit of diversity’
When asked in Wednesday’s press conference if his connection with Pasifika players was an important part of what he did, Rennie said having a connection with all the players is important.

“We’ve got a fair bit of diversity within the group and I think the ability to celebrate that is important.”

The 62-year-old former Chiefs coach and coach of the Wallabies said he’s “really clear” on how he wants the team to play.

“We have a lot of talent here,” he said.

“Coaching the All Blacks is an incredible honour. I’m extremely proud to have been entrusted with this role and understand the expectations that come with it.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Media publisher NZME has come under fire for admitting it used artificial intelligence to create editorials that ran in the Weekend Herald and other publications, with a media commentator saying it “can only damage trust”.

RNZ’s Mediawatch revealed late yesterday that NZME had used AI to write an editorial about “Who the All Blacks should pick to play at centre” that ran first in the Weekend Herald on July 20 and another piece about MMA professional Israel Adesanya.

A statement from NZME editor-in-chief Murray Kirkness said AI was used in a way that fell short of its standards and “more journalistic rigour would have been beneficial”.

• LISTEN TO RNZ MIDDAY REPORT: NZME admits AI editorial lacked journalistic rigour
• Herald deploys AI for editorial, admits lack of rigour — Mediawatch

NZME’s standards don’t mandate disclosure but do say stories should be attributed to “the author and/or the creator/provider of the material” in accordance with the company’s Code of Ethics.

A co-author of the annual AUT Trust in News report, Dr Greg Treadwell, told Midday Report it was a poor experiment in AI use.

“I think New Zealanders have to be realistic about the fact AI is going to work its way into the production of news, but I think the Herald has kind of admitted this was a pretty poor experiment in it for a number of reasons, I think.”

Treadwell said the role of the editorial in any major news publication was to be an opinion leader.

‘Not world-shattering’
“I don’t know how many of your readers have actually gone back to have a look at the editorial that the Herald published, but it was sort of a generalist round-up of the arguments for and against Reiko Ioane at centre in the All Blacks back line — not a world-shattering issue, but a really good example of how AI doesn’t really, can’t really do what an editorial should do, which is to take a position on something.

“If you ask it to take a position, it will, and if you ask it to take another position, it will take that position.

“What is lacking here, even if you ask [AI] to take positions, is the original argument we would look to our senior journalists to put into the public domain for us about important issues.”

Public trust in the media was falling and media companies needed to reassure the public it could be trusted, he said.

“When the public hears that AI is being used in places — and perhaps most importantly here is that it wasn’t acknowledged that was being used to create this editorial — then that can only damage trust.

“I think there’s a lot of issues here including that AI can be incredibly useful for data analysis and other things in journalism, but we just have to be incredibly transparent about how we’re using it.”

‘Another world first’
Former Herald editor-in-chief and prominent media commentator Tim Murphy joked on social media the editorial may “have achieved another world first for NZ”.

On the upside, this has got to have achieved another world first for NZ https://t.co/e6UvHMRwXg

— Tim Murphy (@tmurphyNZ) July 31, 2024

The revelation was also panned by some competitor publications, with the National Business Review’s official X account noting that “NBR journalists are intelligent. Not artificial.”

NBR journalists are intelligent. Not artificial.
Just saying.https://t.co/aUJfld3taf

— NBR (@TheNBR) August 1, 2024

RNZ also approached New Zealand Rugby to ask their thoughts on NZME using AI to analyse the All Black team selection.

In a statement, NZR said it recognised the need for media organisations to have well-established editorial policies and standards.

“These ensure high quality sports journalism and play an important role in telling rugby’s stories.

“NZR is satisfied that the New Zealand Herald has made the appropriate steps to amend the story in question.”

“The Herald and other NZME publications use AI to improve our journalism. In some cases, we also create stories entirely using AI tools,” says an explanatory article headlined NZME, NZ Herald and our use of AI.

“We believe that smart use of AI allows us to publish better journalism. We remain committed to our Code of Ethics and to the integrity of our journalism, regardless of whether or not we use AI tools to help with the production or processing of articles.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The Fiji Rugby Union has sacked Fiji 7s head coach Ben Gollings and replaced him with former Fiji 7s captain and 2016 Olympic Games gold medallist Osea Kolinasau.

The announcement was made yesterday by FRU board chairman Peter Mazey at Rugby House in Suva.

Gollings’ axing comes after Fiji’s failure to win a title on the HSBC SVNS Series over 19 consecutive tournaments.

• READ MORE:  Fijian Drua beat defending Super Rugby Pacific champions Crusaders 20-10
• Other Fiji rugby reports

Mazey said FRU had been in discussion with Kolinisau since December last year, talking to him about his willingness to coach the team.

He said the decision to appoint Kolinisau was not made under duress.

Mazey said the FRU players and staff reaffirmed the full support of the body.

He said the FRU would soon announce an advisory group to help the Fiji 7s teams.

France won the Los Angeles title last weekend as it underscored its challenge for the Paris Olympics in July with new sevens star Antoine Dupont starring.

Republished from The Fiji Times with permission.

Lekima Tagitagivalu knows too well how the French are rugby crazy and wasn’t surprised about the support shown to the Flying Fijians in last weekend’s Rugby World Cup match against Australia.

Playing for Pau in the Top 14 competition, the 27-year-old flanker is a favourite in the French competition.

He is one of several Fijian players in the Flying Fijians squad who plays in France. Like in the match against Wales, the French turned out in numbers to support their second favourite team — Fiji.

• READ MORE: RWC2023: Simi Kuruvoli’s boot helps ‘best ever’ Flying Fijians beat Wallabies
• Other Rugby World Cup reports

Their cheers and those of Fijians who travelled from around the world to the Stade Geoffroy Guichard in Saint Etienne on Monday, rang through the stadium.

“That [French support] means a lot to us,” said the man from Marou, Naviti, in Yasawa.

“A lot of the boys play here in France. It means so much knowing that they are behind us too. It’s more like a home game for us.”

He said the win against Australia would rejuvenate spirits in the team camp for the rest of their RWC campaign — matches against Georgia and Portugal.

“I’m really proud of the boys for the performance and being able to create a part of Fiji rugby’s history.

“It was a tough game and we stuck in there for the whole 80 minutes,” said Tagitagivalu, adding that the win meant a lot to their World Cup campaign.

“Georgia is next and we won’t take any team lightly because they have all been preparing well for this world cup. We’ll take one game at a time, learn from our mistakes and move on to the next mission.

“I would like to dedicate this win to my family, to all the families in Fiji and all our supporters around the world who have been messaging us. We’ve been receiving all videos.”

Fiji plays against Georgia on October 1.

Rodney Duthie is a Fiji Times journalist. republished with permission.

The Fiji Rugby Union is expected to lose its seat on the World Rugby Council.

This means FRU loses its voting rights and RNZ Pacific reported that the decision was made in Dublin, Ireland, last night and a statement was expected later today.

However, FRU operations manager and acting chief executive Sale Sorovaki said that the suspension did not hinder Fiji’s chances at participating in World Rugby sanctioned tournaments such as the Rugby World Cup in France later this year.

• READ MORE: Fiji Rugby Union operating illegally

“There will be a media release by World Rugby stating their status on the issue,” said Sorovaki.

“If we lose our seat in the council, it does not stop us from participating at all World Rugby sanctioned tournaments, including the Rugby World Cup later this year and HSBC 7s series tournaments.”

RNZ Pacific reports that it was revealed last month that the FRU board had been operating illegally.

The FRU will not be able to vote on any world rugby issue until its governance and legality issues are dealt with.

Following revelations by the Suva Rugby Union last month that the FRU was not legally operating, the Fiji government — through the Minister of Justice Siromi Turaga — suspended all board members and cancelled the scheduled annual general meeting on April 19.

Filipe Marayawa is a Fiji Times journalist. Republished with permission.

The tiny Pacific territory of Wallis and Futuna can, per capita, surely lay claim to be test rugby’s hottest talent nursery.

Three players who trace their heritage to Wallis and Futuna — a French “overseas collectivity” located north-west of Fiji and west of Samoa — are in France’s Six Nations squad.

Hooker Peato Mauvaka — a two-try hero in France’s 40-25 win over the All Blacks last November and lock Romain Taofifénua have been joined in Fabien Galthie’s squad by young centre Yoram Moefana, Taofifénua’s second cousin.

• READ MORE: France one win from the Six Nations title and grand slam

Both Mauvaka and Moefana played in France’s hard-won 13-9 victory over Wales in Cardiff last night – a victory that keeps alive their hopes of a first grand slam and Six Nations title in a decade.

Lock Taofifénua would probably also have played if he had not contracted covid-19.

When Mauvaka and Taofifénua came off the bench to join Moefana in the recent win over Ireland, Wallis and Futuna effectively supplied 20 per cent of the France XV. This was repeated in the victory over Scotland.

Wallisians and Futunans have the right to live anywhere in France, so automatically qualify for French national sporting teams.

Born in New Caledonia
The list of French rugby internationals includes some players born in France to parents from Wallis and Futuna, or born and raised in New Caledonia where around 30,000 Wallisians and Futunans live.

Outside back Yann David, who still plays for Top 14 club Bayonne, had four tests in 2008. He was born in Lyon in mainland France, but his mother, Monika Fiafialoto, a former French javelin champion, is Wallisian.

Towering Noumea-born lock Sébastien Vahaamahina had 46 test caps between 2012 and 2019. Vahaamahina, who scored his first try in the 2019 Rugby World Cup quarterfinal, retired from test rugby after getting sent off for elbowing a Welsh rival in the head in that 2019 defeat.

Still only 30, he continues to play in the Top 14 for Clermont.

Vahaamahina was often joined in France’s second row engine room by Romain Taofifénua, whose father, Willy was one of the first players from Wallis and Futuna to make a mark on the French club scene.

Romain — born in Mont-de-Marsan in France and raised in Limoges — made his test debut in 2012. The 31-year-old has since garnered 32 caps.

Brother Sébastien, 30, propped France’s scrum in two tests in 2017. The Taofifénua twosome, and their cousin Vahaamahina played together in a 23-23 draw with Japan that year.

Rugby World Cup squad
Vahaamahina and Mauvaka were joined in France’s 2019 Rugby World Cup squad by another player with Wallis and Futuna heritage, Toulon hooker Christopher Tolofua, another cousin of the Taofifénuas, who has seven caps since his debut at 18 in 2012.

Tolofua’s younger brother, Selevasio, a No 8, has won European Champions Cup and French Top 14 honours with Toulouse, alongside Mauvaka and ex-All Blacks great Jerome Kaino. He won his first and so far only test cap at No 8 in the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup final defeat to England at Twickenham, playing with Mauvaka and Yoram Moefana.

So fielding players with Wallis and Futuna lineage is nothing new for Les Bleus, but Moefana’s emergence has served to heighten the link.

The 21-year-old — who has played little more than 30 Top 14 games for Bordeaux-Bègles – has beaten the more experienced Fiji-born Virimi Vakatawa for the berth in midfield alongside the talented Gaël Fickou. In the last two games, against Scotland and Wales, he ha played on the wing.

Moefana was reportedly born on Futuna but moved to France at 13 to live in Limoges with a professional rugby career as his goal. He lived in France’s porcelain industry capital with his uncle, Tapu Falatea, 33, now a prop for Agen in France’s second tier.

Young Moefana was soon recruited by the Colomiers academy and made his Pro D2 debut with the club in 2018.

After just six games, he was signed in 2019 by Bordeaux-Bègles, where he plays alongside test teammates Cameron Woki, Matthieu Jalibert and Maxime Lucu and Tonga’s former Chiefs prop Ben Tamiefuna.

Represented France Under-20s
Moefana represented France at under-20 level before becoming the nation’s first test player born in the 21st century when he made his debut, aged 20, against Italy in November 2020.

Judging by his assured display against Ireland’s highly-rated midfielders Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose, Moefana could be in for a long stay in the blue jersey.

Galthie told French media before the start of the Six Nations that Moefana had been on his radar since February 2020 while “he was with the U20s, and he worked with us at senior training camps.

“We’ve seen him progress with Bordeaux and when we had to enlarge the group for the [2020] Autumn Nations Cup, we didn’t hesitate to start him because he was already impressive in training. His potential was obvious then, and he performed well in the final against England.”

Moefana was supposed to tour Australia in 2021, but got injured and spent a long spell on the sidelines.

Galthie had no hesitation hurling the youngster into the Six Nations, saying: “Technically, physically and psychologically, without forgetting his talent, he is ready to meet all the requirements of this game.”

Bordeaux-Bègles coach Christophe Urios has praised Moefana as “an easy player to manage” and “always reliable”, saying the young Christian is “as reserved, even shy, in life as he is aggressive on the field”.

‘Not an ambassador yet’
A modest Moefana told French media that while it was “always nice to find guys who come from New Caledonia, Wallis or Futuna in the French team” he did not see himself as “an ambassador yet”.

“I think more of Romain [Taofifénua] because he’s been there for a long time. For young people, I think of Peato [Mauvaka] with his club and selection experience. I find out.”

Moefana’s father, Taofifenua Falatea, had earlier ventured to France to play for Niort, but injury stalled his career. Today, he is president of the Union Rugby Club de Dumbéa (URCD) club in Dumbéa, near Noumea, which is formally linked to the Toulouse club.

Mauvaka, is the URCD club’s most famous product, playing in Toulouse’s winning titles-winning team last season before his brace against the All Blacks.

“I’m not going to hide it from you, we tend to support the All Blacks and his dad has always been a fan of the All Blacks,” Falatea told France’s La Croix newspaper last December. “Playing the All Blacks is already something for him, but scoring tries for [France] and being man of the match is great. Frankly, I think he made history.”

Mauvaka — first spotted by Toulouse as a 14-year-old centre — made his test debut in 2019 and now has 12 caps. He has carved a niche as an impact player off the bench, replacing clubmate Julien Marchand at hooker.

Moefana, Mauvaka and Taofifénua — all in line now to play for France against England in the championship decider Paris next weekend — may not be the last proud Wallisians and Futunans to line up at Stade de France to the strains of La Marseillaise.

Donovan Taofifénua, Romain’s 22-year-old cousin and an Under-20 World Cup winner with France, plays in Paris for Racing 92 and has already been called up to France senior squads.

According to the La Croix article, people of Wallis and Futuna heritage comprise 10 percent of New Caledonia’s population, but represent 80 percent of the Union Rugby Club de Dumbéa membership.

The production line should roll on.

Wallis and Futuna at a glance

• Wallis and Futuna is a French overseas collectivity known, officially, as the Territory of the Islands of Wallis and Futuna, or Territoire des îles Wallis-et-Futuna.
• Located in the Pacific Ocean, 280km north-west of Fiji and 370km east of Samoa.
• Has three main islands (Wallis, Futuna and Alofi) and 20 small islets.
• The resident population is around 12,000, with another 30,000 people of Wallis and Futuna descent living in New Caledonia.
• Its people are Polynesian, but, as French citizens, have an automatic right to live anywhere in France.

Tony Smith is a journalist for Stuff. Sources for this article include La Croix, Rugby World, Sud-Ouest newspaper, Wikipedia and New Zealand and Australian government websites. Republished with permission.

The Fijian Drua have made history, defeating the Melbourne Rebels 31-26 in Queensland for their first-ever Super Rugby win last night, and Moana Pasifika lost their debut match 33-12 against the Crusaders in Dunedin but still impressed.

The tournament newcomers Drua went into Friday night’s match as underdogs following heavy defeats to the Waratahs and Brumbies in the opening two rounds.

Following the game, the Drua head coach Mick Byrne said he was pleased the team stuck with their plan.

• READ MORE: Other Pacific rugby reports

“I said it last week, and we have been training well, we have been training our game well, and I think just getting use to the fact that the physical nature of Super Rugby and as I’ve said, I’m pretty much repeating myself again, I’m proud about the boys went about their task,” Byrne said

“We’ve got two players who have Super Rugby experience, so we just have to keep building each week and getting use to turning up the next Monday and going again for the next week.”

Byrne said the team have been working extremely hard since the first day of training, and tonight, they got their just desserts.

Fijian Drua fought back from 14-nil down to take a lead they never relinquished, and notch a historic, first-ever Super Rugby victory.

Meli Derenalagi was captain on the night. He said the message to the boys before the game was just to go outside and enjoy it.

“Even though we went down for first the two games but we need to stand out and try to be competitive for this Super Rugby.”

Onisi Ratave, Vilive Miramira and Apisalome Vota all dotted down for Mick Byrne’s heroic team.

The Drua will next meet the Reds.

Moana Pasifika ‘would have made their families proud’
Moana Pasifika lost their debut Super Rugby match but they showed a lot of positive signs in Friday night’s 33-12 defeat to the Crusaders in Dunedin.

Moana Pasifika had their first two matches postponed after a covid outbreak within the squad.

The Moana Pasifika captain Sekope Kepu said his side played with passion and would have made their families proud in their Super Rugby debut.

“I was very proud of the lads, the way they fronted up,” hde said.

“The Crusaders are a team that can punish you but I thought we kept coming back and keep showing up for each other and spoke about it all week, being courageous as a group, and doing it for our families and our people and I thought we showed that.”

Moana Pasifika coach Aaron Mauger said he felt the Moana Pasifika forwards did outstanding work.

“Credit is has got to go to Filo and Puleasi for the work they have done with the guys and for the guys out there who are just fronting up and executing their roles, it was really impressive.

“When we got the ball, making sure we were really clinical with it. I think they had 28 percent for most of that first half, so it was actually hard to build pressure with our attack, we had some plans to do that but like you say…we spent most of the time defending.

“It’s certainly an area we want to focus on, it’s clearly the Crusader’s plan to try and gas us. They knew we had been locked up for 12 days, we’ve only had three intensity trainings since we come out and just try and manage our work loads and on the back of that.

“It was a pretty outstanding performance, and Sekope used that word courageous before, I thought it was really courageous.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Greenpeace Aotearoa has again condemned New Zealand Rugby for its “destructive” undermining of the Pacific on climate change after an open letter by prominent New Zealanders opposing the deal with INEOS was delivered to the organisation.

The letter, organised by Kiwis in Climate, a group of New Zealanders working locally and abroad in climate and related fields, is signed by more than 100 people and is being praised by Greenpeace Aotearoa.

Signatories include businessmen Phillip Mills and Malcolm Rands, environmentalist Dame Anne Salmond, former All Blacks Bob Burgess and Chris Laidlaw, and musician Neil Finn.

• READ MORE: NZR urged to abandon INEOS sponsorship deal
• Glasgow showdown as Paciofic Islands demand action
• All Blacks potential sponsor INEOS caught lobbying against rules to limit toxic microplastics

Pacific countres are expected to take a strong stand at the two-week COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, starting on Monday.

New Zealand Rugby has been called out for deserting its own principles, which include “to be a good ancestor” and “write your own legacy”.

“At the time the deal was struck with oil and plastic polluting petrochemical giant INEOS, Greenpeace Aotearoa vehemently opposed it,” said Greenpeace campaigner Juressa Lee.

“INEOS is responsible for driving us deeper into the climate crisis, and fouling the oceans with plastic pollution.”

Grave error of judgment
“This open letter by well-known New Zealanders should indicate again to NZ Rugby that they have made a grave error of judgment in siding with INEOS. This is another reminder of how destructive this deal would be for people of the Pacific.

“The letter suggests the deal ‘high tackles our Pacific neighbours who are hit with the worst effects of climate change’, and it’s absolutely right.

“Our players are being asked to carry water for a brand that is desecrating our environment.

“I’ve often thought about our players, especially the Māori and Pasifika players, and what they might be feeling.

“The Pacific Islands are on the frontline of the climate crisis and the threat to fresh water and food security is clear and present,” Lee said.

The six-year deal with British petrochemical giant INEOS will see the All Blacks, Black Ferns, Māori All Blacks and other New Zealand rugby teams wear the Ineos logo on their shorts, and training jerseys.

At the time of the deal announcement, Greenpeace Aotearoa launched a petition to cancel the deal which now has more than 19,000 signatures.

Fiji has dedicated its Olympic rugby sevens win to the people back home who are struggling amidst the country’s covid-19 health crisis.

Fiji defeated New Zealand 27-12 in the men’s sevens final in Tokyo to defend the title they won in Rio five years ago.

Captain Jerry Tuwai said the win is very special for the team and all of Fiji.

• READ MORE: Covid-19: Fiji death toll continues to rise as 1057 new cases confirmed
• Other Tokyo Olympics Pacific stories
• LISTEN TO RNZ: ‘Having a Fiji-New Zealand final is probably one of the best finals” – Former All Black Dallas Seymour (duration 4′:56″)

“Everything that’s been going on in Fiji and all the expectation – as the coach and myself know is that all Fijians want only the win,” he said.

“So I think winning this gold medal will be a very very good day for Fiji today.”

Tuwai was also a part of Fiji’s gold medal winning team in 2016 but said this win holds extra meaning.

“I think it’s more special because we’ve been away from our family for about five to six months so I think this one is special.”

Only the athletes receive Olympic medals and Fiji coach Gareth Baber revealed his captain actually tried to give him his newest prize.

“Jerry was trying to give me his medal,” Baber laughed.

“I said ‘I’m not going to be taking that off you’ and he said, ‘no, no I won one, you have this one’…because that’s the man that he is. He would never take the credit for what he has done and he has achieved.

“It’s a phenomenal feat to have done what he’s done.”

Congrats to our only DUAL gold medalist.
The captain JERRY TUWAI #HowWeSevens #TokyoOlympics #TosoViti #Olympics #rugby pic.twitter.com/tCRYqEmf4G

— Fiji Rugby Union (@fijirugby) July 28, 2021

Baber said it had been a difficult year for the Fiji team and the country.

“We were locked down in Fiji, then we went to Australia where we were quarantined for a period of time and I’ve got to pay a special mention to the players and staff who have done this,” he said.

“They came into a training camp on Easter Monday thinking they were going back on on Friday. On the Tuesday they were told they couldn’t go back and they haven’t seen their family since.

“I think what you saw out there over the last three days has been the resilience of the group dealing with whatever’s been thrown our way.”

Congratulations

OUR CHAMPIONS #HowWeSevens #TokyoOlympics #rugby #Olympics #TosoViti pic.twitter.com/m3GSN5pLYk

— Fiji Rugby Union (@fijirugby) July 28, 2021

Baber also paid tribute to the impact of newcomers Jiuta Wainiqolo, Sireli Maqala and Iosefo Masi, who only made their international debuts last month.

“This is their first international tournament they’ve ever played in, apart from an Oceania tournament we played some three weeks back in Townsville,” he said.

“To think that we’ve done that behind the closed doors of Fiji and it pays testament really to the quality of rugby that is played in Fiji, particulary the quality of sevens rugby… that’s where the expectation comes from, because we know we’ve got super talent in Fiji.”

They’ve done it again!

A big congratulations to the #FIJ team on their second #gold in a row in the men’s #rugby sevens! #StrongerTogether | #Tokyo2020 | @WorldRugby | @fijirugby pic.twitter.com/t6HA8eIvEn

— Olympics (@Olympics) July 28, 2021

Fiji Rugby chief executive John O’Connor said they were extremely proud of the players, who have sacrificed a lot on their Olympic journey.

“The boys have been together for the last several months from April, away from their families, and there is so much commitment they have given to this journey,” he said.

“That made us confident and I know all of them proudly represented their families and the struggles of Covid-19 that we’re going through and they were playing for their families and for Fiji.”

Fiji recorded 1057 new cases of covid-19 in the 24 hours to 8am Wednesday.

There are now more than 19,168 active cases in isolation, with 218 deaths – 216 of them from this latest outbreak that began in April.

The Fiji team had to separate from their families when the outbreak began and O’Connor said the plight of everyone back home had motivated the team in Tokyo.

“We had to get special permission for them to train in a bubble and I think they all understand the struggles that every Fijian is going through,” he said.

“In their message this afternoon they said they were going to play for all the families who have lost loved ones and all the people who are going through covid-19 – all the frontliners and every Fijian who has been through challenges during this time.”

With covid-19 restrictions in force, Fijians were unable to gather together to watch the gold medal match but it didn’t stop the locals from celebrating.

O’Connor watched the game at home in Suva and said he could hear drums and fireworks throughout the capital after the full-time whistle.

Five years ago thousands of fans lined the streets to welcome the Fiji team home from Rio, but O’Connor said things would have to be different this time around.

“I think the players understand that it’s tough times,” he said.

“We will see them come home and in the meantine we will have discussions with all the stakeholders and see how we can celebrate their victory.”

The Fiji squad departs Tokyo on Thursday and will arrive home on Friday morning, before spending 14 days in quarantine.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

New Zealand Rugby is accusing the Players’ Association of misrepresenting the reasons for their opposition to the Silver Lake deal.

Thursday’s NZR annual general meeting unanimously backed the selling of a minority stake in its commercial arm to the US private equity firm.

Holding up the NZ$387.5 million (($281.8m) deal is the sign-off from the players, with All Blacks hooker Dane Coles yesterday saying the reservations were not just about the money.

• READ MORE: NZ rugby unions to sell All Blacks stake to US firm

New Zealand Rugby chairman Brent Impey questioned the players representatives.

“I do believe that the Players Association have not represented exactly what their position is, which was we are opposed to the deal philosophically but we’ll give that away if you give us more money,” said Impey.

Mediation between New Zealand Rugby and the Players’ Association is currently on hold.

Coles had said that they weren’t about to be rushed into any decision.

‘No rush to get into it’
“There’s no rush to get into it, this is a very big decision and it’s something we could look back on in a hundred years [and say] why did we make that decision, or we look back in a hundred years and be glad we made that decision,” Coles said.

“I know the Players’ Association have got the players best interest at heart.”

“If it was about the money we would say yes, but it’s not about the money, it’s about leaving the game in the best hands and having the future as bright as we can and looking after everyone,” said Coles.

Impey said the deal would help the game at all levels.

“This is a commercial deal and is therefore going to benefit clubs, the 26 provinces and everybody in the game by getting money into it,” he said.

“Eighty percent of what we spend on rugby goes into the professional game, only 20 percent goes into the community game and so we need to change the paradigm because the game is struggling big time in our community, so this is all about money.”

Impey said the Players’ Association wanted 40 percent of what was coming in.

The Players Association has not commented since yesterday’s vote was taken at the New Zealand Rugby AGM.

Impey said Silver Lake was delighted with yesterday’s vote and they were being very patient over the ongoing stand-off with the players.

“We will go back into good faith bargaining [with the Players’ Association] over the next few weeks, but we are hopeful we will be able to strike a deal.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

New Zealand’s first weekend at post-covid alert level 1 drew massive crowds to Super Rugby Aotearoa franchise matches in Auckland and Dunedin – but hospital emergency departments across the country also felt the impact of the return to normality.

In Auckland yesterday Sunday afternoon, the home team Blues played in front of their largest crowd in 15 years – a full house of 43,000 fans at Eden Park – and they didn’t disappoint, beating the Hurricanes by 10 points – 30-20.

While in Dunedin on Saturday night, 20,000 watched the game between the Highlanders and the Chiefs which was much closer with Bryn Gatland landing a stunning drop goal with minutes left on the clock to give the Highlanders the win by one point – 28-27.

READ MORE:  Al Jazeera live updates – France declares ‘first victory’ against coronavirus

Dunedin and Auckland’s mayors Aaron Hawkins and Phil Goff were among the thousands in the stands this weekend for the world’s first post-covid live rugby union matches.

Goff said that besides being a great game of rugby, the peaceful Black Lives Matter solidarity march in Auckland was a celebration of the return of normality.

“The fact that this match was broadcast around Australia and other places was a huge chance to showcase to the world New Zealand’s success in dealing with covid-19,” he said.

Hawkins said it was great to have “the zoo back in action” on Saturday night and to take part in the BLM march from the Octagon to Forsyth-Barr Stadium.

‘Great atmosphere’
“It was a great atmosphere before and after the game, it has huge implications for our local hospitality sector, being able to gather in numbers at events like big rugby games,” he said.

After the Blues match, Goff said the cafes, bars and restaurants in the area appeared to be doing great trade.

“Things were thriving there and people pick up that atmosphere of confidence and I think that that will spread around the city and around the country,” he said.

However, the first weekend of alert level 1 also brought an increase in admissions to hospital emergency departments.

Stabbings, assaults and car crashes were just some of the reasons for patients flocking back in, according to Waikato Hospital’s Dr John Bonning, who is also the president of the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine.

He said that expected arrivals had dropped by 50 to 60 percent in some hospitals, but reports from around the country indicated that this had risen to 85 to 95 percent of what was expected at this time of year.

“Mental health presentations have gone up proportionally across the country, but in general we’re getting unfortunately a return to some of the trauma and alcohol-fuelled violence that we’ve been used to over the years,” he said.

Paediatric presentations lower
However, paediatric presentations remained lower than usual, despite the end of lockdown restrictions.

“They usually go significantly higher in winter and they’re down 30 to 40 percent around the country,” he said. “That’s going to be due to increased hygiene measures and a bit of distancing that’s occurring and we’ll continue to watch that to see how that changes.”

Bonning said that while it was great that people were going outside and getting active, safety was important.

“All we’re keen for is for people to try to be responsible, take care of themselves and avoid that really avoidable alcohol-fuelled violence and motor vehicle trauma, the nasty stuff that people are really injured by.”

At Waitako Hospital, “fairly aggressive” screening for covid-19 continued, he said.

“We are very vigilant and the concept of a second wave is very much on our minds.”

Thousands of people took part in the Black Lives Matter protests in Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin today.

Auckland’s Aotea Square protesters, largely peaceful and family oriented, marched to Custom Street and demonstrated outside the American consulate where protesters took a knee and observed a minute of silence for George Floyd.

This was one of two mass gatherings in Auckland today after the 23rd day in a row of New Zealand being covid-19 free.

READ MORE: George Floyd: What we know about the officers charged over his death

The other was at Eden Park which displayed a “sold out” sign after a capacity 43,000 tickets had been sold for the Blues-Hurricanes Super Rugby Aotearoa match this afternoon. This match and one between the Highlanders and Chiefs in Dunedin last night kicked of the world’s first post-covid live crowd rugby matches.

The Black Lives Matter protests around the world started with the death of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis, USA, on May 25 when white policeman Derek Chauvin was filmed kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes.

Chauvin was videoed by Darnella Fraizer, a 17-year-old high school senior, as Floyd pleaded: “I can’t breathe.”

He has been charged with second degree murder, third degree murder and manslaughter. Three other policemen have been charged for aiding and abetting and all four officers were sacked from the police.

‘Keep it peaceful’
The Auckland protest march opened with a karakia at Aotea Square and a mihi whakatau from Graham Tipene of Ngāti Whātua, who told the crowd to “keep it peaceful”.

“Our kids are here, so let’s do it right and fight for what’s right,” he said.

Members of the black African communities addressed the crowd on the Black Lives Matter movement, along with social justice campaigner Julia Whaipooti, who talked about the use of armed police in predominantly Māori and Pasifika areas.

“For many of us this is not a new moment in time, not a hashtag on Instagram,” she said.

Emilie Rakete from People Against Prisons Aotearoa and the Arms Down movement spoke about armed police, particularly in South Auckland.

She said the “truth is that we live on a graveyard in Aotearoa”, with NZ police laying down the bodies.

“When the cops say hands up, we say arms down.”

‘They love to profit off our pain’
Auckland-based Somali-NZ rapper Mo Muse performed a piece written in the past two weeks, saying “they love to profit off our pain”.

“Tell Winston Peters he can see me in hell cos we won’t be silenced.”

Auckland University of Technology academic Associate Professor Camille Nakhid, who researched police discrimination against the African community in New Zealand, said racism was the knee on the neck of Māori, Pasifika and other communities of colour in New Zealand.

“Everyone is talking and thinking about the murder of George Floyd in the US and the knee that was on his neck. But I want to talk about the knees on our neck, the Black indigenous people of colour in Aotearoa”, said Nr Nakhid, who is also chair of AUT’s Pacific Media Centre.

She said things such as putting students into lower streams in schools, lower standards of health and the uplifting of children were the knees upon the neck of people of colour in this country.

“This protest is because we love who we are. Do not let them turn our love into hate against each other.

“We have to remain awake because we need to get those knees off our neck.”

Wellington, Dunedin rallies
In Wellington, RNZ News reports that thousands of people gathered in Civic Square, to march to Parliament in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

The march was organised by a group of community advocates, including Guled Mire.

In Dunedin, hundreds of people gathered at the Otago Museum reserve to show solidarity with the movement. They marched down George Street to the Octagon, where a rally was held.

The Auckland march, which started at Aotea Square, headed down Queen St and ended at the US consulate, where protesters took a knee and observed a minute of silence for George Floyd.

Before Ben Ryan (2016 Fiji gold medal winners at the Rio Olympics) there was George Simpkin, officially the technical director, but in fact Fiji coach at the 1987 rugby World Cup.

Last week he died aged 76 at his Waikato home, but that is not how I remember him.

The year 1987 was the time of the first Fiji military coup by Lieutenant-Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka who I interviewed two years ago and who repeatedly apologised for carrying out the coup – but I digress.

READ MORE: International rugby community farewells George Simkin

As the sports editor at The Fiji Times at the time – along with my Fiji Sun colleague Matai Akoula who once saved me from a “mob lynching” at Nadi’s Prince Charles Park after a Farebrother Sullivan Challenge Trophy match (akin to the Ranfurly Shield here in New Zealand) when Nadi lost to Suva – we both found George a warm, kind-hearted man.

However, he could bristle like a man standing before you with hand on slim hips with a hernia. He could look so pained at what you had written, like you had done him so wrong – all about rugby.

Many a time, he strode into the old Gordon Street wooden building of The Fiji Times to lean on my desk while he fired questions at me,”why…did you write that”. And the whys came thick and fast followed by the inevitable “what were you thinking of when you wrote that?”

To the stage where he asked me to attend a clinic at the Fiji Rugby Union where he explained the finer points of forward play.

Role of the hooker …
What the loosehead did, what the tighthead did and the role of the hooker; but much more than that …what was function of the first lock, second lock and the loose forwards.

“The number 7 is first at the breakdown, followed by the number 8 and then the number 6, with locks and the props coming after,” he explained then.

For a boy who had hopes of doing a football degree in Germany, and being an Indo-Fijian, rugby didn’t come naturally to me.

I finally understood rugby, and did I love it – and that is why I think Sir Michael Jones was peerless as a Number 7. Thanks to George Simpkin.

He was head coach of Waikato from 1976-1984, taking the Ranfurly Shield off Auckland, moving the province into first division. He would have loved to coach the All Blacks, and to me it was a mystery why he wasn’t selected.

George grabbed opportunities to coach in Fiji then Hong Kong, China, Sri Lanka and Germany.

And he took to drinking yaqona like it was going out fashion, many a talanoa (chat) was had over a bilo (bowl) or three.

Fijian gait
As he explained to me at one such sitting, the Fijian gait was such that it was more suited to rucking than mauling because in the tropical climate Fijians tended to conserve their upper body energy.

So, he taught the Fijians the ruck-and-run game that worked so well at the first rugby World Cup and took them to the quarterfinals against France.

However, I did collaborate with him in getting Fiji to 1987 World Cup.

The book Real Men Drink Aftershave, by Alison Kervin, accurately describes this:

“… [B]ut the outside world still had no idea whether the Fijians would be in New Zealand. Sri Krishnamurthi, sports editor of The Fiji Times newspaper arrived at his desk only to be told by the editor that the rumours were circulating that Fiji were going to be replaced by Samoa….Krishnamurthi said he didn’t think so but would find out for definite. He headed down to the military base (where Fiji were training) and told Simpkin there were huge concerns in New Zealand. ‘We will be there,’ said Simpkin…’Leave it to me I’ll tell them’.”

“Krishnamurthi rushed back to phone his friend Dean McLachlan at Rugby News in Auckland but he couldn’t get a line out of the country. He dialled the operator and explained that he needed to get a message to New Zealand urgently to say the Fijian team would be at the World Cup, she opened the line and put him through to Auckland. Krishnamurthi duly spoke to McLachlan who passed the message to NZRFU that the Fijians were coming.”

And that’s how Fiji came to play in the first rugby World Cup in 1987 just a mere couple of weeks after the first military coup.

George Simpkin accumulated a wealth of achievements at school, club, provincial and international rugby level but on May 7, the 76-year-old husband and father lost his battle with cancer at Waikato Hospital in Hamilton.

Haere Ra George, Fiji will remember you with great fondness.

The pressure goes on re-elected World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont to investigate Fiji Rugby Union chief Francis Kean for allegedly using homophobic slurs in a recording during his role in charge of the Fiji Prison Service. 

The slurs emerged from an audio recording reportedly made during his prison job and revealed today by Rugby Pass following last month’s London Sunday Times investigation.

Kean was recently stood down as a candidate from the vote for World Rugby’s all-powerful executive committee over the allegation and it is understood to be at Beaumont’s request. 

READ MORE: Inquiry into Francis Kean, the convicted killer whose Fijian union is backing Bill Beaumont’s World Rugby bid

Overnight, the Pacific Rugby Players Welfare (PRPW) organisation, headed by former Samoan international Dan Leo sent a second letter calling for “urgent enquiries on the status of the investigation”. 

It could become an embarrassment for Beaumont if he does nothing after New Zealand Member of Parliament Louisa Wall, who represented New Zealand in netball (Silver Fern) and rugby (Black Fern), outlined to Pacific Media Watch that Beaumont had called for “diversity” in the game. 

“In 2015, World Rugby and International Gay Rugby (IGR) signed an agreement to progress strategies to keep homophobia and intolerance out of rugby,” Wall said. 

“It was an expression by World Rugby of its commitment through these alliances for rugby to live up to its stated values of integrity, respect, discipline, passion, and solidarity.” 

‘Proud of inclusivity’
She went on to say that World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont had said at the time: “We are proud of our partnership with International Gay Rugby to promote inclusivity, equality and friendship as rugby continues to reach out, engage and inspire.

“It’s important to us that rugby remains a sport for all, that it embraces diversity, celebrates difference and shuns intolerance.” 

Without pointing a finger at Kean, she had a word of advice for World Rugby. 

“For rugby to be able to fully embrace diversity and inclusion it should be a requirement that all council members and elected executive members commit to these stated values and be able to demonstrate commitment to these values.” 

“Eradicating homophobia, sexism and misogyny requires deliberate action and any person appointed or nominated to these positions should sign a code of conduct that includes a commitment to the stated values of World Rugby.  

“Anyone who cannot commit to those values or has acted in contravention of these values should not be eligible for appointment,” Wall said 

“And, I am an advocate that board quality is dependent on board diversity. World Rugby does need a combination of skills and experience and this transcends gender and should include ethnicity, and a range of people passionate about rugby and who appreciate the value of sport to society.  

‘Need to meet future threats’
“We need World Rugby to be in the best position to embrace new approaches to meet future threats and opportunities” – wise words for Beaumont and his executive. 

The PRPW in the letter, quoted in the Rugby Pass publication, said World Rugby had a regulation that it could invoke. 

“While  World Rugby  have no fit-and-proper-person test for anyone standing as a union official, PRPW have identified World Rugby regulation 20.4 (c) in relation to misconduct which refers to ‘acts or statements that are discriminatory by reason of sexual orientation’.” 

In the letter following the  Sunday Times  story that broke the original controversy ahead of World Rugby’s vote, PRPW director Dan Leo wrote: “I note that, although it is more than two weeks since an investigation was first promised to the media, at the time of writing this letter no request has yet been received by the Sunday Times from WR (World Rugby) for a copy or transcript of the Kean recording or any other material generated in support of the April 19 report.” 

One of the PRPW board members is former Fiji international Josh Matavesi, who told  RugbyPass:  

“I don’t know what [Kean] adds to the FRU. I am embarrassed by his comments. As a Fijian, I know how hard the team has worked in the last decade to pride itself on the morals and values that it holds,” Matavesi said. 

More scathing words
Lord Robert Hayward who is secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group in the United Kingdom for rugby union had more scathing words about Kean’s actions. 

“The alleged comments attributed to Francis Kean are unacceptable. If World Rugby are to stand by the game’s values and moreover their own regulations, we need more clarity about the undertaking of their investigation and any subsequent steps,” he told Rugby Pass. 

“Taking swift and appropriate action against anti-LGBT remarks is what everyone in rugby should expect of those in the highest office of the game,” Lord Hayward said. 

Kean was convicted of manslaughter in 2007 after he punched and killed John Whippy at a wedding in Suva. 

He is also the brother-in-law of Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. 

New Zealand has had the lowest daily increase of Covid-19 coronavirus infection cases since lockdown began last month, the Prime Minister has provided details on what a scale down to alert level 3 would like, and the pandemic bites into media companies Stuff and NZME – and NZ Rugby.

In today’s afternoon briefing, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said there were 15 new cases of Covid-19, made up of six confirmed and nine probable cases.

It is the lowest number of daily cases reported since March 22, four days before level four began.

READ MORE: How the ‘chief covidiot’ has blocked world health unity with WHO freeze

• Other Covid-19 updates
• RNZ coronavirus timeline

There have been no new deaths, as the toll stands at nine, but a post-mortem on an Invercargill man is being done to determine whether he died of Covid-19 or another cause.

Currently there are 88 people in quarantine – the total number of those in quarantine and self-isolating in hotels was at 1189.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said several positive tests yesterday were from people in quarantine.

Twelve people are in hospital with Covid-19, three are in intensive care, and two are in a critical condition. There were still 16 significant clusters around the country, with 11 of the new cases connected to them.

Targeted sentinel testing
Dr Bloomfield also confirmed targeted sentinel testing was underway in Queenstown, where there was concerns about community transmission due to the relatively high number of cases reported.

He said the testing would “build the picture of whether there is any community transmission happening in Queenstown”.

“And we are also looking actively at two or three other places around the country where this will happen.”

A clinic was set up outside Frankton Pak’nSave this morning to begin randomly, and voluntarily, swab testing 300 people. This testing is expected to end tomorrow, with the results set to be shared with the Ministry of Health.

The total number of Covid-19 tests conducted in the past 24 hours was 3661.

Alert level 3 clarified
In the afternoon briefing, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the unveiled details about alert level 3 should not be seen as foreshadowing Cabinet’s decision on Monday about whether to move out of the level 4 lockdown.

Ardern said the strategy was to win the fight against the virus and transition into recovery.

“We will step down to level 3 in a way that is consistent with our goal to eliminate Covid-19 in New Zealand. The last thing we want to do, when moving levels, is give away the gains that we have won in lockdown.”

She reiterated her previous message that level 3 would be like “a waiting room” – to wait and see if the lockdown measures had worked and whether or not it was safe to lower the alert level. She said the same message remained at level 3: Stay home, save lives.

Under alert level 3, New Zealanders would still not be able to freely socialise but bubbles could be expanded slightly, Ardern said.

‘Keep your bubble’
“Keep your bubble, the more we can limit the new people everyone is exposed to the better, but at level 3, you can expand your bubble [by] a small amount,” she said.

“If you have a caregiver you need in your life, children who might be in a shared care arrangement, a de facto partner who is caring for others or you’re a single person who wants the company of a sibling, for example … Keep it exclusive though, keep it small.”

It would not be until alert level 2 that controls and socialising principles would be loosened, she said.

However, Dr Bloomfield warned that people should use their judgement about whether to expand their bubble to include people over 70 under alert level 3.

He said elderly people could still be included in bubbles in a way that protected them – such as good hygiene, and physical distancing.

Stuff asks employees to take pay cut
Staff at media company Stuff have been asked to take a pay cut for the next 12 weeks because of the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.

Chief executive Sinead Boucher said staff earning more than $50,000 are asked to take a 15 percent cut and the executive team a 25 percent reduction.

Boucher said she would take a 40 percent salary cut.

NZME, which runs Newstalk ZB and The New Zealand Herald, yesterday announced 200 job losses and suspended publication of popular newspaper supplements.

MediaWorks, which operates TV3 and a number of radio stations, asked its employees earlier in the month to take a 15 percent pay cut for six months.

Bauer Media, which has The Listener, Woman’s Day, New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, North and South and Next, has shut down.

Stuff had applied for the wage subsidy and had redeployed staff who could not work in their normal job during the lockdown, Boucher said.

NZ Rugby freezes 50 percent of player pay
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) has also announced it is freezing $25 million, or 50 percent, of forecast player payments for 2020.

NZR and the New Zealand Rugby Player’s Association (NZRPA) has agreed to change the payments of players that play at Super Rugby level, including All Blacks, the national sevens programme and Black Ferns.

The freeze covers the base salary of players, assembly payments and other incentives, as well as reductions in player-funded welfare and development activities.

The maximum retainer for a top Super Rugby player is $195,000, the minimum is $75,000.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

• If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP – don’t show up at a medical centre.

• Follow RNZ’s live blog for all the latest coronavirus updates

A minister of a Pacific church in Auckland has spoken out against rugby star Israel Folau’s homophobic attack.

Samoan Minister Apelu Tielu from the Pacific Island Presbyterian Church has criticised Folau’s misuse of the Bible, saying Folau has used the Bible “as an excuse”.

Folau has defended his homophobic stance despite being fired by Rugby Australia after an independent panel found his social media posts were a “high level breach” of professional player conduct.

READ MORE: Israel Folau launches fresh attack on gay and transgender people

Folau posted a “warning” to his 313,000 Instagram followers which said “homosexuals” should repent or “hell awaits you,” and quoted Bible verses.

Reverend Apelu Tielu disagreed that Folau was merely stating his religious beliefs, saying that the Bible has historically been misused to justify acts of hate, including apartheid and slavery.

Instead, Rev Tielu says that people need to understand the context that the Bible was written in, and that it is better to treat it as metaphoric rather than literal.

Rev Tielu posted on facebook about Folau and has written an E-tangata article saying that Christianity is about “love, not judgment”.

Rev Tielu’s faith has grown through the coming out of his pansexual daughter Amy, who he has described previously as “a blessing”.

Amy Tielu, 33, a Filipino-Samoan business analyst in Canberra, told her parents about her attraction to both men and women when she was 16, and is outspoken about being a queer Christian.

“It’s not “God loves you in spite of this” it’s “God loves you including this part.””

While Folau has been fired by Rugby Australia, Amy Tielu would like to see reparations to the LGBTQI community for the harm done.

“I would like the $4 million from his contract invested into scholarships or something for LGBT rugby players.”

Amy Tielu hopes that Folau would reflect on his homophobic actions and “open his heart and mind to consider maybe God is trying to communicate something to him through these people he might have assumed are his enemies”.

While the Tielu family is Samoan, and Folau is Tongan, other Pacific people are also distancing themselves from Folau’s extreme views.

Leilani Tamu, a New Zealand-based Pacific social commentator of Tongan, Samoan and German descent, says her reaction to Folau’s social media post was “distress and upset for all the people I know his comments would have hurt directly.”

While Christian faith is central to Tamu’s identity, as it is for Folau, she says that there is a spectrum of views within Pacific communities.

Tamu believes Folau is misguided, saying, “Jesus never turned anyone away”.

• Tulia Thompson is of Fijian, Tongan and Pakeha descent and is based in Aotearoa New Zealand. She has a PhD in sociology and is currently completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism at AUT.

All Black and devout Muslim Sonny Bill Williams hopes New Zealanders will embrace Islam more in light of last week’s terror attack in Christchurch.

Williams was part of the 20,000-strong crowd that attended yesterday’s call to prayer in Hagley Park, Christchurch, to mark the one week anniversary since the attack.

The call to prayer, the adhan, is an Islamic practice that is observed by devotees five times a day. The call to prayer took place about 1.30pm, lasting about one minute and 40 seconds.

It was attended by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Muslim community leaders, local iwi and international dignitaries, among others. It was followed by two minutes of silence, which has been observed nationally.

Williams, who previously played rugby for Toulon in France, said he had been proud of the way New Zealanders had embraced the faith since the attacks, but hopes for more acceptance.

“People don’t really know what Islam is. I feel like to get that light, you need that knowledge and you need to understand what Islam is, so it can give that light which will get rid of the darkness,” he said.

He told RNZ Checkpoint he wanted to attend the ceremony as “proud Muslim and a proud New Zealander … to come down here and show some love”.

“Being a naturally shy person, I knew that I had to step out and be vulnerable and show that we are Muslims, but we are humans and New Zealanders as well,” he said.

He said he now left it in the hands of New Zealanders to find out more about Islam, because “it truly is a religion of peace and love”.

Williams said the charity he partnered with for the victims of the attacks had raised more than $200,000.

This article is republished under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.

• More Christchurch mosque attack stories

World Rugby must adopt a “one country one national team” in world competitions as it is done in the Olympics and all the other world sports, says the prime minister of Samoa who is also his nation’s rugby chairman.

This means the United Kingdom must have one rugby team to incorporate England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales in the future.

Samoa Rugby Union chairman, Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, says this in response to the controversial League of 12 competition proposed by World Rugby that will ultimately marginalise Pacific teams and poorer rugby unions.

READ MORE: World Rugby reveals plans for nations championship

“We have perpetuated this absolute nonsense – of four national teams by the United Kingdom – for so long and the worst part is the silence from the older unions like South Africa, New Zealand and Australia in the Southern Hemisphere. Their silence speaks volumes,” said Tuilaepa, who will attend his first World Rugby Council meeting in Dublin in a few weeks.

“Rugby is a 20th century sport, where the colonial mindset is a thing of the past. So as long as this abnormality continues in World Rugby, with four national teams for the United Kingdom alone, the voting power will always be skewed in favour of the kind of decision-making that is not inclusive and is harmful to the best interests of the sport internationally.”

Tuilaepa said the new league means that not only are Pacific teams excluded, but all other rugby playing nations will be relegated to second class status.

“Which is contrary to the often-proclaimed world rugby objectives of growing the sport internationally; and to care for the welfare of our 9 million rugby players; and sustain the interest of over 300 million rugby fans worldwide,” he said.

‘Breeding farms’
“This new concept will treat Tier 2 Unions as mere breeding farms for the Rich 12 to pick and choose players from.

“Then on top of that, players aged 20 years in 2022, at the height of their careers in the island teams will be denied the opportunity to play top rugby for the whole period of 12 years.”

A “one nation one national team” policy is one of three major changes Tuilaepa wants to raise the quality and incorporate fairness in to competitions, for the sportsmen and sportswomen as well as the unions themselves.

Firstly, the eligibility rules should be more liberal. Like those adopted by World Rugby League.

The best approach for Tier 2 nations is for member unions to pick the best players for their test matches then allow unselected players to play for the country of their roots. In this way, competitiveness is maintained and the competition becomes more exciting for the fans worldwide.

Secondly, the gate-sharing of the amateur days of rugby, in which the host union takes all, should be replaced with a more professional sharing ratio of 50/50 for the visitors and host team, for any competition.

“This will ensure a more balanced distribution of the gate takings for games held in rich or poor nations.

Gate sharing
“If this gate sharing is modernised to a sharing ratio that appropriately reflects the professional era we have long been in, the revenue derived from the sweat of our island players when touring the super-rich venues of England is enough to meet our yearly budget for every annual tournament we participate in, every year in the Northern Hemisphere,” he said.

“Then Tier 2 nations should never have to resort to or be branded as beggars, depending on handouts.

“The current annual tours by Tier 2 nations only serve to fill the pockets and replenish the already fat bank accounts of the Irish, Scottish, English, Welsh, French and Italians every year and our small Tier 2 Unions continue to struggle, year in and year out, with huge bank overdrafts.”

Tuilaepa also suggested establishing a Tribunal “by law to adjudicate on complaints” raised by affected members.

“Perhaps it is time for a world tribunal, established especially in a neutral venue like “The Hague”, to adjudicate on contentious issues that are so blatantly wrong and which destroy the spirit of sportsmanship for millions of the world’s rugby youths of today that will become world leaders of tomorrow.

“Their hypocrisy is very clear. We can see it’s just lip service when there is talk of development for Tier 2 Nations.

“The ‘do as I say and not as I do’ syndrome is alive and well in this popular sport of world rugby.

‘Greed and selfishness’
“The inclusion of Italy and the United States, [which] are not in the top 12 world rankings, clearly points to greed and selfishness.”

“A better alternative to consider would be to stage two competitions – a Tier 1 competition to include the top 12 ranked teams in the world and a Tier 2 competition to include the next 12 teams, chosen on the basis of their ranking.

“At the end of the season the worst performing four Teams in the Tier 1 competition move down from Tier 1 and the best performing four Teams from Tier 2 move up to Tier 1.
He also suggested that all participating unions must receive broadcast (rights) compensation payments, plus gate sharing.

“This is a more positive pathway for Tier II rugby nations to move up the ladder in world rugby.”

This article by Talamua chief editor Lance Polu is republished by the Pacific Media Centre with permission.

Tonga’s Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva disagrees with a decision by his Minister of Education to ban girls from Tonga High School boxing or playing rugby.

He said the decision was not in line with his government’s policy.

“It is the government’s responsibility to provide opportunities for all the students to participate in all sports,” the Prime Minister said.

“It is for the individual students and their parents to decide whether or not they should participate in a particular sport like rugby and boxing.”

Education Minister Penisimani Fifita and his education authority had imposed the ban.

Meanwhile, a former Catholic principal said that if Catholic schools agreed with the Ministry’s decision it would be “a disgrace” for the church.

Fr ‘Aisake Vaisima, who was principal of ‘Apifo’ou College before he left Tonga for Fiji for a new role in January, told Kaniva News the Catholic church’s education authority had not banned its school girls from taking part in boxing and rugby.

The comments came after a controversial letter from the Ministry of Education and Training was leaked to news media, sparking an outrage that polarised international news as far away as New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Majority not affected
It is understood the ban does not affect the majority of school girls in Tonga, especially at the church and private schools which are attended by 90 percent of all students in the kingdom.

In the letter, an education authority told the principal of Tonga High School, a government-sponsored institute, that a decision had been made by the Director of Education to ban its girls from participating in rugby and boxing.

The letter, which was written in Tongan, was dated March 15.

It Tongan it said:

“Ko hono ‘uhinga he ‘oku fepaki ia mo ‘etau ‘ulungaanga fakafonua ki hono tauhi ke molumalu ‘a ha’a fafine, ‘o taau mo e tala tukufakaholo na’e fatu’aki ‘a e fakava’e na’e fakatoka talu pea mei ono’aho ‘o kehe ai ‘a Tonga pea mei ha toe fonua ‘i he Pasifiki pea mo mamani.”

This translates into English as: “The reason is because it is against our culture to keep women dignified so it still upholds the tradition of which its basis had been set out since the olden days making Tonga exceptional in the Pacific and the world.”

Prime Minister Pohiva, said the letter from the Ministry of Education and Training to Tonga High School “purporting to ban girls from participating in rugby and boxing is not Tongan Government policy,” his office said in a statement this afternoon.

“Sports is good for the health and the wellbeing of the people and this government, like previous governments, actively encourages the participation of every Tongan student in all sports without discrimination.”

International reaction
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has expressed her disapproval over the ban.

Ardern said New Zealand’s aid support for sports in Tonga would not be threatened, but she disagreed with the directive.

“As a school student I played touch rugby and I would encourage all young women to engage in whatever sporting code they are interested in,” Ardern said.

“We provide funding via MFAT to Tonga to encourage children’s participation in sports. A young woman will still be able to do that through their villages, even if this dictate is made by these schools.”

The New Zealand-funded Sports for Health Rugby Programme was launched at Kolomotu’a Community Rugby Field in February.

Known as Quick Rip, it was intended to focus on girls and boys aged 13 – 18 years of age.

New Zealand provided NZ$4 million to support efforts in four Pacific countries, including Tonga, to reduce the rate of non-communicable diseases in the Pacific.

Some people on Facebook supported the ministry’s move and said rugby and boxing were sports for men only and Tongan girls should not take part in them.

Kaniva News has a sharing arrangement with Asia Pacific Report.

• More Tongan news

Not three hours had passed since last week’s message from Queen Elizabeth II said she was “…hoping that they [the French] rediscover their swagger” when the news broke that Bernard Laporte had ended Guy Novès’ attempts at helping the French do just that.

It was news that, in all probability, has ended Noves’ rugby career unless Toulouse come calling once more. A one-club man, he spent 13 seasons on Toulouse’s wing as a player and 22 years orchestrating the team in that famous one-kneed coaching posture (not forgetting a couple of years prior as an assistant).

His time in charge of Toulouse was nothing short of glittering: nine championships, four Heineken Cups and a pair of runners-up medals for each tournament as well. He was responsible for probably three of the great generations of French players emerging and dominating – the first of Califano, Pelous, Castaignede, Ntamack; the second of Servat, Elissalde, Michalak, Jauzion, Clerc; the third with Maestri, Dusautoir, Picamoles, Medard.

He was considered for the national job after the 2007 World Cup, but declined the offer to stay with Toulouse.

It wasn’t the first time he had declined the national team either: he ended his own international playing career.

After declaring himself not yet recovered from a thigh injury ahead of one match, the selectors didn’t pick him again when he did declare fitness before the next. He promptly quit, alleging a lack of contact and respect from the federation.

His decision to reject the national team and stay with Toulouse in 2007 smacked of lingering bitterness from that, as well as giving the impression that he simply wasn’t interested in anything outside la Ville Rose.

Embodied Frenchness
Yet, he embodied Frenchness. His unique and mildly eccentric coaching posture, his perpetually well-groomed appearance (tracksuits looked stylish on him) and weighty antipathy toward the English – he once ended a radio interview with the words “I’ll take no lessons from the English” – all combined to leave you in no uncertain terms where he came from, as did his occasional explosions of temper; he was led away by police after the Heineken Cup win in 2005 when stewards refused to let his family onto the pitch to celebrate with him.

But it was a strange last decade. He seemed unable to find a fourth generation to bring through at Toulouse, up against the stiffer competition that other clubs imported and finding no way to cope with the increasingly attritional demands of the French season.

Toulouse looked outdated by the time Novès relented to take the national job.

He could not find selectoral consistency in the national team either, rarely his fault. Having started out looking to impose his own philosophy of forward bullies allowing graceful backs to play, combinations of injury and club/country overlaps left him returning to a more direct game, not his natural inclination.

And as a coach who loved to let his players express themselves, the international level playing structures seemed to be too antithesis, while the inconsistencies in selections – again, rarely his fault – also left him unable to achieve that which he had been able to at Toulouse.

Capacities for his teams to wow
But whatever the recent criticisms thrown his way, nobody should forget what Novès contributed to the game of rugby at Toulouse, the abilities and calibre of player he developed and nurtured, the capacities for his teams to wow.

That should be a legacy that lasts far longer than his time in charge of a national team governed by a national rugby framework in desperate need of a large shake-up.

His sacking smacks of scapegoating in some ways – which should be another reason Noves should proudly disassociate himself from the FFR and reflect on two decades of terrific rugby his Toulouse teams gave to us all.

France is due to tour New Zealand and play three tests in June.

• Petition in support of Guy Novès
• Noves sacked as Brunel takes charge of France
• Charles Roucher’s analytical comments from New Zealand
• Elissalde rejoins French national team as backs coach
• France faces the All Blacks

By Avinesh Gopal in Suva

The stunning gold medal win by the Fiji rugby sevens side at the Rio Olympics in Brazil — the first-ever Olympic medal won by Fiji — is a celebration for the entire Pacific Islands region, says the Pacific Community’s director-general Dr Colin Tukuitonga.

“This is a magnificent and emphatic victory by a Pacific Island nation on the world stage,” he said in Suva today.

“While Fijians are rejoicing, this proud victory will be celebrated across all 22 Pacific Island countries and territories.

“Pacific Island nations may have the smallest teams competing in Rio, but Fiji has today proven they are mighty.”

Ruthless Fiji thrashed Great Britain 43-7, scoring seven tries, in the final to win the gold.

Fiji will mark the triumph with a public holiday on March 22.

Avinesh Gopal is a Fiji Times reporter.

• Fiji ‘goes crazy’ over the Olympic success
• Match report on the final

There are no real surprises in either squad with the names who have shone on the men’s and women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in 2015-16 featuring, with Terry Bouhraoua and Fanny Horta continuing as captains.

The men’s team, coached by Pomarel, features the veteran Julien Candelon alongside teenager Sacha Valleau, who played in all 10 rounds of the series in 2015-16 and will be hoping to add an Olympic medal to the gold medal he won with France at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, in 2014.

Fijian-born Virimi Vakatawa, a star for France in both sevens and 15s in 2016, will be a player to watch as Les Bleus take on series runners-up South Africa, Australia and repechage winners Spain in Pool B at the Deodoro Stadium from August 9-11.

“The announcement of a squad is never easy because there are always some disappointed guys,” admitted Bouhraoua.

“But what the selection definitely does is draw a line in the sand. Now, more than ever, we must show solidarity, determination and be as precise as we can in everything we do so we make the most of this privilege, this historical position of being the very first to represent France in rugby sevens in the Olympic Games.

“We went through really hard times together because the preparation always provides difficult times, but when things get tough, during the competition, we will remember this to deal with it and fight until the end.”

Pomarel added: “We have been preparing for the Games for six years. It’s been six years that we think of the Games every day, sometimes several times a day, and we have never been so close. I look forward to the start.”

Women’s team
The women’s event, which runs from August 6-8 at the same venue, will see Les Bleues tackle series runners-up New Zealand, repechage winners Spain and Kenya in Pool B with captain Horta, Marjorie Mayans, Shannon Izar and Caroline Ladagnous key to their hopes.

Camille Grassineau was France’s top scorer in the series with 16 tries and twice featured in dream teams in 2015-16, in the final two rounds in Langford, Canada, and on home soil in Clermont-Ferrand.

“This is a very special moment,” admitted Horta. “Now, we need to look forward, digest as fast as possible these emotions and continue our work, not move away from our objective for all those who are going to stay. It is now that we must think about the group more than of the rest (who missed out). These moments force us to get to know each other even more and can only make us grow.”

Courteix added: “We have been following the same unifying thread for the last four or five seasons with a relatively stable group and a homogeneity in their level. We have built around a hard nucleus. The challenge was to find a balance between the players and in taking our opponents into account as well as the requirements of the final phases. We hesitated a lot but in the end it is necessary to make a final choice.”

Men’s squad: Jérémy Aicardi, Steeve Barry, Terry Bouhraoua (captain), Julien Candelon, Damien Cler, Manoël Dall Igna, Vincent Inigo, Pierre-Gilles Lakafia, Jonathan Laugel, Stephen Parez, Virimi Vakatawa, Sacha Valleau.

Reserves: Jean-Baptiste Mazoue, Sofiane Guitoune

Women’s squad: Audrey Amiel, Pauline Biscarat, Camille Grassineau, Lina Guérin, Elodie Guiglion, Fanny Horta (captain), Shannon Izar, Caroline Ladagnous, Jade le Pesq, Marjorie Mayans, Rose Thomas, Jennifer Troncy.

Reserves: Jessy Tremouliere, Christelle le Duff.

So now it’s official, at least in France. The most dangerous position on a rugby union field is hooker, according to research cited by Rugby World.

The results were released recently of a three-year medical study commissioned by France’s LNR (Ligue Nationale de Rugby) and FFR (Fédération Française de Rugby), cataloguing all of the rugby injuries that have forced a player out of a Top 14 game in that period.

Between the start of the 2012-13 season and the end of the 2014-15 season, there were 2208 injuries to players in the Top 14 (the survey defined an injury as one that ended the player’s participation in that particular match).

The front row accounted for 26 percent of that total injuries with the hooker the worst affected; in all, the player wearing the No 2 shirt suffered more blood, face, neck and knee injuries than any other position, and was second in the list of concussion and shoulder injuries.

The props suffered their fair share of knocks with the loosehead incurring more shoulder injuries than any other position and the tight-heads topping the ankle injury charts.

Interestingly, while the loosehead props were second only to the hooker in suffering neck and shoulder injuries, the tightheads suffered less in those categories but more with lower leg injuries.

The study also revealed that outside the front row, the half-backs were next in injury propensity with fly-halves being concussed more than any other position and scrum-halves suffering more shoulder and knee injuries save for the front-row.

In total, the front-row and half-backs made up 43 percent of all permanent injury substitutions in the three-season study.

Good plus bad news
The findings of the study contained good and bad news overall; on the plus side, the number of players being forced of the field with concussion had remained stable in the three seasons, between 36 and 38 per season, with an average of two cases each weekend. Blood injuries had dropped by 22 percent, and face injuries had fallen by 27 percent.

On the other hand, elbow injuries had shot up by 133 percent in the three seasons and hand injuries by an astonishing 250 percent.

In total, the number of players injured during Top 14 matches rose by 40 percent between August 2012 and June 2015, prompting Dr Bernard Dusfour, a member of the FFR medical committee, to make two recommendations: “Respect the letter of the law at the rucks” and “Don’t play players who are injured”.

The second sounds obvious but there have been incidences in recent seasons where players have gamely taken the field carrying knocks. According to Midi Oympique, Provale, the professional players union in France, is demanding the establishment of an independent medical security committee to implement the report’s recommendations.

Rugby : les inquiétants chiffres des blessures en Top 14

After French rugby union coach Guy Novès selected a Fiji-born Sevens flyer for the national squad, he has now also called up another former Sevens star – the France-born son of a former Australian rugby league international.

Montpellier winger Marvin O’Connor has been named to replace the injured Benjamin Fall.

O’Connor will now link up with the rest of the France squad for their latest Six Nations training camp from January from today until Wednesday.

He has previously represented both France U19s and France Sevens, and is currently the highest try scorer in the French Top 14 national club championship.

O’Connor has been regarded as one of France’s top wings in the past few seasons and many rugby critics have been tipping his call-up for a while.

The wily 24-year-old player, born in Annemasse, France, started his professional career with Grenoble before joining Bayonne and then Montpellier.

Last week, Novès named “unstoppable” Fiji-born Virimi Vakatawa winger from the France Sevens team to the national squad in a surprise move.

Revised France squad for the Six Nations

Forwards: Eddy Ben Arous, Jefferson Poirot, Guilhem Guirado (c), Camille Chat, Rabah Slimani, Uini Atonio, Yoann Maestri, Paul Jedrasiak, Sébastian Vahaamahina, Alexandre Flanquart, Wenceslas Lauret, Yacouba Camara, Kevin Gourdon, Louis Picamoles, Antoine Burban, Damien Chouly.

Backs: Sébastian Bézy, Morgan Parra, Maxime Machenaud, Jean-Marc Doussain, Jules Plisson, Alexandre Dumoulin, Wesley Fofana, Gaël Fickou, Jonathan Danty, Rémi Lamerat, Marvin O’Connor, Hugo Bonneval, Maxime Médard, Scott Spedding, Virimi Vakatawa.

Fijian flyer Vakatawa – a rugby gamble France needed to take

By Paul Eddison in Caen, France

The call-up of Sevens star Virimi Vakatawa to France’s Six Nations squad was a calculated gamble by new coach Guy Novès serving as both his most intriguing decision and proof of a major problem in French rugby.

At 23 years of age there is no question that the Fijian-born flyer is the star attraction in the French Sevens outfit, and has established himself as the most prolific offloader on the circuit since switching from XVs in 2014.

A rare combination of pace and power, Vakatawa’s step and fend has become one of the most fearsome sights in the shorter format of the game and if he can transfer that threat into XVs, there is no question he will become France’s most dangerous weapon out wide.

While his Sevens exploits were enough to convince Novès to give him a shot, there will be question marks over how ready he will be to play XVs, having made his last appearance for former club Racing 92 back in December 2013.

He does have 44 games in that format under his belt with the Parisian side after being enticed over by Sireli Bobo. Back when he arrived as a 17-year-old he weighed just 87kg, a huge contrast to his current powerful build.

Still, his background should at least ensure he acclimatises quicker than the likes of Semi Kunatani and Samisoni Viriviri, Sevens superstars who have made negligible impact after moving to the Top 14.

But the issue of Vakatawa’s defence in XVs, as well as the difference in fitness required between the extreme athleticism of sevens and the longer grind of the 80-minute game, ensure this is far from a guaranteed success.

Worthy risk
Novès felt the risk was worth taking though, and as he did when talking about a number of other uncapped players, he explained that there was no time to waste.

Going forward Vakatawa could well be a fixture in the French squad, particularly after the Rio Olympics when he will return to XVs full-time, with Racing and Toulon battling for his signature.

Just over three years on from turning down a call-up by Fiji, it would appear that Vakatawa’s gamble is starting to pay off.

Of course when it was revealed that he had said no to Fiji, it came at the same time as one of his compatriots also playing in France, and the example of Noa Nakaitaci should serve as a warning to Vakatawa.

One year his senior, Nakaitaci fully deserved his call-up by Philippe Saint-André, and started well, despite a hairy moment at Twickenham back in March.

But as France’s World Cup campaign went south, so did Nakaitaci’s reputation and confidence, and the latter still appears to be shattered as he missed out on Six Nations selection.

Add in talk of Josua Tuisova, Toulon’s budding flyer who isn’t currently eligible, and France’s wing stocks could be packed with Fijians going forward.

Little surprise
That comes as little surprise with the Top 14 and Pro D2 both dominated by Fijians on the wing, in a position where les Bleus are desperately short of options. Only Castres and coincidentally Racing don’t have a Fijian back three player, although even they have Sitiveni Sivivatu and Joe Rokocoko respectively.

Injuries don’t help of course. Yoann Huget gets his fair share of stick in France, but is undoubtedly their best option when fit. At the moment he is still recovering from the ACL tear suffered in the World Cup opener against Italy.

Similarly Rémy Grosso likely would have made it but for a long-term injury, while Teddy Thomas, so impressive when he first broke through, has virtually disappeared from contention due to a succession of injuries. He last played a game in May and as it stands there is little indication of when he will return.

With those three absent, the cupboard is remarkably bare. Novès has gone with a collection of full-backs turned wingers in Benjamin Fall, Hugo Bonneval and Maxime Médard in the squad.

All are fine players in their own right, but the latter two at least prefer the 15 jersey. The other possibility is the return of Wesley Fofana to the wing, a much-derided move by Saint-André but conceivable given the paucity of options.

In terms of those challenging them, you have the pocket-sized duo Marc Andreu and Marvin O’Connor, both ignored and surely too small for Test rugby when faced with the likes of Julian Savea and George North.

There are other players getting game time out wide, but far too few and even fewer are contenders for France down the line.

Current vein
Last weekend saw the arrival on the scene of Louis Dupichot at Racing, and if he continues in his current vein he may yet make the squad for the June tour to Argentina.

Equally La Rochelle’s Gabriel Lacroix could join club colleagues Kevin Gourdon and Uini Atonio sooner rather than later, but the promising Arthur Bonneval has not yet broken through fully at Toulouse.

The lack of talent coming through is a real concern. While Vakatawa and co might provide a short-term solution, the FFR should be worried that they are currently the only option.

Paul Eddison is a freelance sports journalist who writes for Planet Rugby. He is now based in Caen, France.

Virimi Vakatawa racing to his six tries in the 2015 Wellington Sevens tournament. Video: Fox on YouTube

Report from Pacific Media Watch in Paris

France head rugby union coach Guy Novès has sprung a surprise by naming Fiji-born France Sevens wing Virimi Vakatawa in his Six Nations squad that includes eight uncapped players.

After two training camps the new France boss has settled on a squad of 31 to finalise his preparations ahead of their first game against Italy on February 6.

Two big names missing from the final list are fly-half François Trinh-Duc and flanker Bernard le Roux. Trinh-Duc is still recovering from a shinbone injury, has been provisionally left out of the squad and replaced by Toulouse’s Jean-Marc Doussain. Stade Français flank Antoine Burban replaces South African-born Le Roux, who is absent for personal reasons.

There is no place,as expected, for Mathieu Bastareaud.

Toulon hooker Guilhem Guirado will captain the group.

Vakatawa has impressed for France Sevens in the two Seves World Series events so far this season in Dubai and Cape Town. Previously contracted by Racing 92, the 23-year-old qualified to play for France in 2013.

“We tried to involve young players on every line. We tried to build a team which will allow us to work in continuity, with an eye to the next four years,” explained Novés.

“We had a discussion with François (Trinh-Duc). He knew that his presence depended on his performances on the pitch. We know that Francois has resumed training very seriously,” he added.

Among online comments on the Planet Rugby website, Gareth Cotter described Vakatawa as being “unstoppable for the French Sevens team. Strong and skilful”.

France squad for the Six Nations:
Forwards: Eddy Ben Arous, Jefferson Poirot, Guilhem Guirado (c), Camille Chat, Rabah Slimani, Uini Atonio, Yoann Maestri, Paul Jedrasiak, Sébastian Vahaamahina, Alexandre Flanquart, Wenceslas Lauret, Yacouba Camara, Kevin Gourdon, Louis Picamoles, Antoine Burban, Damien Chouly.

Backs: Sébastian Bézy, Morgan Parra, Maxime Machenaud, Jean-Marc Doussain, Jules Plisson, Alexandre Dumoulin, Wesley Fofana, Gaël Fickou, Jonathan Danty, Rémi Lamerat, Hugo Bonneval, Maxime Médard, Benjamin Fall, Scott Spedding, Virimi Vakatawa.

Earlier story

By Semi Turaga

French media reports that Virimi Vakatawa has accepted the offer to play for France in the Six Nations as he has not been included in the French 7s teams training squad for the Wellington 7s in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, two Les Bleus stars have been included to play for France at the Wellington and Sydney Sevens.

They are Fulgence Ouedraogo and Romain Martial.

France 7s squad: AICARDI Jérémy, BARRY Steeve, BOUHRAOUA Terry, CANDELON Julien, CLER Damien, GRACBLING Alexandre, LAKAFIA Pierre Gilles, LAUGEL Jonathan, MARTIAL Romain, MAZOUE Jean‑Baptiste, OUEDRAOGO Fulgence, PAREZ Stephen, VALLEAU Sacha.

Virimi Vakatawa chosen