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WXV 3 and the most unusual change of rugby position?
By Jon Newcombe
Everyone laughed when England winger Jonny May once filled in at flanker but imagine the sniggering had he tried his luck at tight-head prop, the anchor of the scrum.
The hardest positional switch in rugby imaginable will be attempted, however, this Saturday when Manusina take to the field for their WXV 3 clash against Fijiana at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, which can be watched live and exclusive on RugbyPass TV (kick-off 18:00 BST).
After drawing their first game against tournament newcomers the Netherlands 8-8, Manusina have reacted by making a number of changes to their starting XV, including shifting their inside-centre, France Bloomfield, to scrum-half.
However, the headline-grabbing selection comes in the front row, where Tori Iosefa has been selected to play tight-head.
Whilst built for the rigours of front row play, unlike the aforementioned willowy May, Iosefa had only experienced playing on the wing until converting to tight-head this year.
Indeed, her only previous Manusina cap came in the number 11 jersey in a Women's Rugby World Cup 2021 qualifier against Tonga.
Manusina won the match in Auckland 40-0 and the 125 kilo Iosefo barrelled her way over the line for two tries.
Fast-forward four years and now she gets her chance to show that she has successfully turned her back on the show pony ways of the wing and turned into a proper workhorse up front.
Iosefo started the unlikeliest of conversions – one that surely must be unprecedented in Test rugby, especially between caps one and two – in Super Rugby Aupiki, with Hurricanes Poua.
The 29-year-old, who stands 1.76m tall, made five appearances in the pro competition before lighting up the Farah Palmer Cup with her performances for her provincial team, Hawke's Bay Tui.
Iosefo is actually Hawke's Bay's Tui's all-time leading try-scorer with 14 tries from 29 appearances.
When push comes to shove, she is worth her weight in gold, as Fiji are about to find out.
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Latest Comments
Gotta love a coach who'll throw his players under the bus instead of taking the loss on his chin. No wonder his team lacks confidence with a bellend like him in charge.
Go to commentsI agree re-Barrett, he would be an excellent 6. Vaai he called him the squads Terminator! No use in shutting out other specialist 6s though like Frizell and Finau.
I don't think the Saders want Darry tbh, already have so much locking talent in Strange, Cahill, Hannah, and Barrett, with Gallagher returning after a spell at the Canes.
As for your ideas on SRP, I was thinking more expansion into the islands. Why just a Fijian team? Why not a Samoan and Tongan team as well? I think adding Japan could be cool, since they are in roughly the same timezone so not much jet lag. Only issue is that their seasons are reversed! Same with USA.
I think the best option is to keep to ourselves, with AUS, NZ, SAM, FIJ, and TNG. 5 teams for Australia (Brumbies, Reds, Tahs, Force, Rebels), 5 for NZ (Saders, Canes, Blues, Chiefs, Landers), and 4 for the PIs (Moana Pasifika, Drua, Tongan team, Samoan team).
If we expand into the PIs, we cut off a source of talent and entertainment from the Northern competitions like Top 14, and open a whole new market of people. Increase advertisment in Japan as well, since their in the same timezone, and we could be on track for a very good competition.
Plus, we would get gamedays like in America, one game queued up after another. Makes it a whole lot easier if you can just flick on the telly and BOOM theres the games. No need to plan out when things are, just get your mates around, flick it on in the background and chill with a cold beverage.
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