Lote's cousin is off to Twickenham
LOTE Tuqiri's cousin has been plucked out of Sydney club rugby for the match of a lifetime this month to play for the Barbarians against England at Twickenham.
Randwick's Ratu Nasiganiyavi, 21, was amazed when he got the call for the May 30 match.
"I'm dumbfounded,'' Nasiganiyavi said. "I'm still buzzing. I didn't think they knew I was alive.''
One of the first things he did after the call-up was text Tuqiri, who is in South Africa with the Waratahs, to give him the news.
After being leading tryscorer in the world under-20 championship in Wales, Nasiganiyavi was chased by NRL clubs.
"I spoke to St George and Cronulla, '' he said. "Had a chat with Ricky Stuart and Wendell (Sailor), but I'm in no hurry to go down that track.''
At 119kg, his combination of size and speed has won him a NSW contract, but he has yet to be tossed into a Super 14 game.
When he was picked for the Junior Waratahs to play in Fiji last year, Ratu's first match was at a ground less than 200m from his mother's village in Nadi.
There are rough edges on his play but his potential is awesome, prompting Randwick to call in former Test winger John Cole to give him advice on positional play.
One of Nasiganiyavi's team-mates in the Barbarians side will be Wallabies star Rocky Elsom, who is also coming home to turn out for the Baa-Baas against Australia at Sydney Football Stadium on June 6.
And if the Waratahs fail to make the Super 14 final on May 30, word is that skipper Phil Waugh will captain the Barbarians in Twickenham.
Nasiganiyavi was sidelined early in the season by a stress fracture in his foot and yesterday's Randwick-Sydney University game at Coogee was only his fifth this season.
Two years ago he was working as a bouncer in Perth before being spotted playing for the Perth Spirit in the ill-fated Australian Rugby Championship. He headed east and got a job driving a ute for a Sydney plumber.
Once back on the field, he caught the eye with some devastating running in which he regularly bowled over would-be tacklers. He will fly out on May 25 to join his Barbarians team-mates in London the following day.
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