Opinion
The “world” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in the Rugby League World Cup, with the Americas, Asia and Africa unrepresented and Europe supplying a dwindling number of teams, but appeals to suspend our credulity appear to be contagious this week.
Somehow, from somewhere, a narrative has sprung up insisting that the Wallabies’ Rugby World Cup hopes depend on whether Mark Nawaqanitawase decides to play for Australia, Fiji, or Italy.
The Wallabies won’t get what they need to win a Rugby World Cup from the NRL.
There are years, even decades, of evidence to the contrary, and it should be remembered that the greatest, most recent Wallabies moments at the tournament came from sheer bloody-mindedness and self-sacrifice.
First, there was David Pocock’s performance against the Springboks in 2011, displaying the tenacity and fearlessness he later brought to Canberra in politics. And then there was the incredible, backs-to-the-wall defensive effort against Wales in 2015, when Australia were down to 13 men for a period and still beat a superb Welsh team 15-6.
Former Wallaby Matt Giteau was on the field at Twickenham that day, so it was no surprise to hear the normally laid-back former Brumby bristle this week that the Roosters star was weighing up a shift in national allegiance.
Wingers don’t win World Cups, and the only one who came close to that feat is the late Jonah Lomu, and even he couldn’t get the All Blacks over the line against the Springboks in 1995.
And with all due respect to Nawaqanitawase, he’s not Jonah Lomu, and while his appearance on a podcast this week was no doubt well-meaning, it came dangerously close to conveying the idea that he was good enough to choose which country was going to go all the way at the World Cup, with him as a central figure.
“I still have more to prove. I don’t know where that’s going to be, but wherever I go, I feel like I have a lot to give the team,” Nawaqanitawase said on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast.
“Whoever it’s for, I want to go and win it. I don’t know who it will be for, but time will tell.”
Nawaqanitawase has given Wallabies coach Les Kiss a bit of a hospital pass. Kiss will cop it if Nawaqanitawase chooses Fiji, and if he does play for Australia, there’ll be constant comparisons to his feats at the Roosters.
Nawaqanitawase, in fact, could be a walking advertisement board for the NRL at the Rugby World Cup, given the likely event that he returns to the Roosters after his two-season deal in Japan.
The Rugby World Cup runs from October to November next year, but Nawaqanitawase could be running around in Roosters colours by mid-2028.
Any hard-headed analysis of the pro and cons of Nawaqanitawase’s Wallabies return, therefore, throws up a surprisingly even list of factors in each column, especially as Australia’s first XV are hardly short of back-three options.
Nawaqanitawase could end the debate by choosing Fiji. Listening to the winger talk emotively about his Fijian heritage answered the question about where his heart really lies.
Representing that country is an itch he would like to scratch, and for the bigger picture of the Rugby World Cup that move would be a winner.
When Rugby Australia was putting together its bid for the World Cup, creating a tournament for the entire Pasifika region was part of the pitch. That vision could turn out to be more than just a lofty aim.
Two weeks ago, Samoa named their squad for its Nations Cup Tests in November, and it was eye catching: Shaun Stevenson, Etene Nanai-Seturo, Akira Ioane and AJ Lam were included, not to mention Scott Sio and Richie Asiata. And guess who the Wallabies might play in the round of 16?
As for Fiji, coach Jake White already has a good group of players to pick from, but it would seem inevitable that he would hold an interest in picking Nawaqanitawase, potentially alongside Salesi Rayasi in a dangerous back three.
If that’s the way Nawaqanitawase goes, the Wallabies will get on with things.
Of all the things they need for a successful tournament, a half-in, half-out winger isn’t on the priority list.
