Kiss confident Nawaqanitawase will return to the Wallabies fold
FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union – Rugby World Cup 2023 – Pool C – Australia v Georgia – Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France – September 9, 2023 Australia’s Mark Nawaqanitawase in action REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo
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SYDNEY, Oct 16 : Australia coach Les Kiss is confident Mark Nawaqanitawase will return to the Wallabies after his two-year stint in rugby league but warned the athletic winger would have to earn his spot in the team.
Nawaqanitawase finished up his spell with the Sydney Roosters after his tries helped them to the National Rugby League (NRL) title earlier this month and is returning to the 15-man game on a two-year deal with Japan’s Wild Knights.
The 26-year-old’s agent Milan Volavola-Shankar said on Tuesday that there was no guarantee Nawaqanitawase would play for the Wallabies again given he would also qualify to play for Fiji or Italy from midway through next year.
Kiss said he accepted that Nawaqanitawase would not be available for November’s Nations Championship games in Europe but thought he would be back in the green and gold of Australia before next year’s World Cup on home soil.
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“We’ve had a couple of chats and (we were) always waiting for the end of the year to see where he sits,” Kiss told reporters on Thursday after naming his team for this weekend’s clash with the All Blacks.
“He’s had a big year, a fantastic year, hasn’t he? So the conversations are being wrapped around making sure we get what’s right for him.
“I think there’s no doubt that you know he wants to be back in the game for us, that’s for sure,” Kiss added.
“So we’ll continue our conversations and go from there. I’m not going to speak on his behalf. That’s all. But we know where he wants to play.”
Kiss, himself a former rugby league winger, said Nawaqanitawase would need some time to readjust to rugby union and was not certain to come straight back into the Australia side.
“Everyone will earn their way,” he said. “But if he’s playing good footy, he’ll be in the mix, that’s for sure. There’s no doubt he’s a quality player that we’ll keep an eye on.
“He’ll have some opportunities but first and foremost, (he needs to) get his rest, get himself together and get into some rugby back in Japan.
“It’s a different game in terms of height and how you attack the game, how you move in the game, how you defend, how the aerial game is different, so he’s got a lot of things just to relearn.
“Won’t take him long, that’s for sure.”
Nawaqanitawase made 11 appearances for the Wallabies before switching to the NRL, where he built a reputation as one of the game’s biggest aerial threats as well as someone able to conjure up stunning tries.
Source: Reuters
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