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Virimi Vakatawa to make shock international rugby comeback
By Ian Cameron
Eleven months after he was forced to retire from the sport, ex-France international Virimi Vakatawa is set to make a remarkable international comeback - RugbyPass can reveal.
It was on September 5th of last year that Racing 92 announced that the talented centre had been banned from playing rugby in France due to a medical issue which was later confirmed to be a heart condition.
The news that Vakatawa's playing career was coming to an end and that fans would be denied his remarkable talents shocked the rugby world. The decision was taken by the LNR's medical committee, which meant he could no longer take part in any of the governing body's officially sanctioned events.
While the ban restricts Vakatawa's participation in French rugby, it appears that he remains eligible to play the game.
RugbyPass has now learned that Vakatawa is preparing to face Manu Samoa as part of a Barbarians side that will face the island nation in Brive on 18th August as part of their preparation for the Rugby World Cup. We understand that he has been passed fit to play the game and will be the first player to be announced in the Barbarians' side.
The New Zealand-born player, who also holds Fijian citizenship, shone on the international stage for France in a relatively brief career.
Having qualified to play for France in 2013, he earned the last two of his 32 caps last summer against Japan, starting at outside centre in both victories. That game marked his return to the Test stage after over a year out due to injury.
He had scored ten tries for France over the span of those 32 games, bagging three at the Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019.
Now he will taste international rugby again and hear the roar of a French crowd once more, this time against Manu Samoa. Samoa will play the Pat Lam-coached Barbarians as part of a special event in the rugby-mad town of Brive, which will not feature as a host city in the upcoming Rugby World Cup.
Gates will open at 6pm and local fans will be able to watch Brive play away to Agen, which kicks off at 6.30 pm on the large screens in the stadium, before Samoa take on the famous touring side.
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The match experience still sucks at SR games, irrespective of the game being a little quicker. Rugby has to compete with so much in the modern world, if you’re going to get people to leave their houses and pay to watch a game in winter then the experience has to be worthwhile.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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