Scottish Rugby controversial “project player” policy entered new territory as Glasgow Warriors announced the signing of powerful Fijian-born wing Taqele Naiyaravoro on a three-year deal.
The 23-year-old, 6ft 5in, 19 stone winger has been compared to the great Jonah Lomu playing for the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby this season after converting from rugby league, and will plug the gap left by Sean Maitland, DTH van der Merwe and Niko Matawalu leaving the Guinness PRO12 leaders.
Most notably, the deal is intended to encompass the statutory three-year residency period which will see Naiyaravoro qualify to play for Scotland in 2018, although he has no Scottish ancestry and won’t have set foot in the country until this summer.
Several “project players” aiming to play for Scotland under residency rules are already at Glasgow and Edinburgh, with two, South Africans Josh Strauss and WP Nel, likely to be called up for this autumn’s Rugby World Cup when they complete three years here. Another South African, Edinburgh back rower Cornell du Preez, will qualify next summer.
However Naiyaravoro is the first player who probably would have been capped for his native country to have taken the Scottish residency route.
He’s unlikely to be the last recruit either, as Scottish Rugby, despite a recent rush of young native talent into the international team, seeks to plug the gaps in player development via World Rugby’s residency rules.
Just last week Murrayfield advertised a new post of “International Resettlement Adviser” at £35-40k a year with “a focus on identification, recruitment, relocation, resettlement and integration of professional rugby playersparticularly those from the Southern Hemisphere.”
The signing of Naiyaravoro, who will have attracted the attention of big-spending French and English clubs, is something of a coup.
Strangely, the Waratahs had believed Naiyaravoro was headed for Edinburgh instead of Glasgow, but the Warriors would appear to have secured additional money over their regular player budget from Murrayfield to get the Fijian, as they did when Maitland was signed three years ago.
It will certainly help move season tickets at Scotstoun after there was some disquiet among fans that the popular Matawalu, van der Merwe and Maitland were being allowed to move on.
Naiyaravoro said: “Glasgow have been talking to me for a while and opened the door for me, so I’m happy to have signed a long-term contract with the club. I’m looking forward to moving to Glasgow with my family to continue my development.
“They are a strong team and it’s really exciting to get the opportunity to move over there and play my rugby in Scotland next season.
“It will be a new challenge for me to play in the Guinness PRO12 and compete against the best sides in Europe in the Champions Cup.”
Glasgow Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend said: “Taqele is a very exciting signing for our club. He has the potential to become one of the best wingers in the PRO12.
“His sheer size and strength will give us another option in our back-line and he has a great attitude and desire to work and improve.
“We’d like to thank Scottish Rugby for their support in securing a player of Taqele’s quality. We look forward to him joining us knowing he’ll be with us regardless of any international commitments.”