Virimi Vakatawa (born 1 May 1992) is a Fijian-born French professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who plays as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

or a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

for

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

and the French national team. Arrived in France in 2010 and having obtained a French passport, he joined the France sevens team in 2014 before playing for the France national rugby union team since 2016 and the

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

. In September 2022, he suddenly retired from professional rugby due to a heart condition. On 27th September 2023 it was confirmed that he was returning to Rugby after signing for

Early life

Vakatawa was born in

Rangiora Rangiora is the largest town and seat of the Waimakariri District, in Canterbury, New Zealand. It is north of Christchurch, and is part of the Christchurch metropolitan area. With an estimated population of Rangiora is the 30th largest urba ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

on 1 May 1992, before moving to Naluwai,

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, his family village in

Naitasiri Province :see also Naitasiri District Naitasiri is one of the 14 provinces of Fiji and one of eight located on Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. Geography and infrastructure Naitasiri covers an area of , and occupies the area mostly to the north of Suva, ...

. He holds Fijian

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

and started rugby with his hometown club at 9 years old. He then joined Nasinu Secondary School, a famous rugby playing school in Fiji. He played both

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

and

before joining the Fiji national under-19 rugby union team at 17 years old.

Club career

Vakatawa was spotted and recruited by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

-based Fijian winger

Sireli Bobo Isireli Bobo (born 28 January 1976), is a Fijian rugby union footballer. Early career Early in his career, he played for Grupo Dramático e Sportivo Cascais, a Portuguese team. He was in the Nawaqavesi 7s and was subsequently picked to play at ...

, joining

Racing Métro 92 Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name to ...

in 2010. He was mentored by another former flying Fijian in

Simon Raiwalui Simon Raiwalui (born 8 September 1974) is a Fijian former rugby union player. He served as the General Manager for his former French club, Racing Métro 92. He currently co-manages Stade Français. He has represented Fiji national rugby union team ...

. He played his first game in the

2010–11 Heineken Cup The 2010–11 Heineken Cup was the 16th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started with three matches on 8 October 2010 and ended on 21 May 2011 wi ...

where he scored his first try against

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

. On 13 June 2017, it was confirmed that he would be rejoining

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name to ...

for the 2017–18 season. He ended the

2018–19 Top 14 season The 2018–19 Top 14 competition was the 120th season of the French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Two new teams from the 2017–18 Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 (Perpignan and Grenob ...

as the top try-scorer for the competition with 13 tries. He lost in final with his team in the

2017–18 European Rugby Champions Cup The 2017–18 European Rugby Champions Cup was the fourth European Rugby Champions Cup championship (23rd overall), the annual rugby union club competition for teams from the top six nations in European rugby and was the twenty-third season of pan ...

and the

2019–20 European Rugby Champions Cup The 2019–20 European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the European Rugby Champions Cup, the annual club rugby union competition run by European Professional Club Rugby (ECP ...

. On 5 September 2022, Racing 92 unexpectedly announced that Vakatawa was forced to retire from professional rugby, with immediate effect, due to a cardiac pathology. On 27th September 2023, English premiership side Bristol Bears announced that Vakatawa had signed a contract "until the end of the 2023/24 season". This after a panel of experts in sports cardiology cleared him to play professional rugby.

International career

In 2013, Vakatawa became eligible to represent

. He was released from his contract by

and joined the French sevens team. He became a star in rugby sevens for France and played at

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. He won the

2014 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series 2014 Sevens Grand Prix Series is the 13th round of the Sevens Grand Prix Series (formerly known as the European Sevens Championship) for rugby sevens organised by the FIRA – Association of European Rugby. Series Lyon Moscow Manchester ...

and the

2015 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series The 2015 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series was an Olympic qualification tournament for rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics which was held over three legs in the cities of Moscow, Lyon and Exeter. The top team qualified directly to the O ...

with the France sevens team, and was chosen in the 2015-16 World Rugby Sevens Series dream team. On 19 January 2016, Vakatawa was named in France's rugby union squad for the Six Nations Tournament by

Guy Novès Guy Novès (born 5 February 1954) is a former French rugby union player and most recently coach of the French national team. Born in Toulouse, Novès, who played on the wing, was capped seven times for his country, and played with Stade Toulousa ...

. He has been labelled as the French answer to All Black

Sonny Bill Williams Sonny Bill Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player and as of recently is working for Stan Sports. He is only the List of dual-code rugby internationals#New ...

. He made his debut against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

scoring a try. On 24 May 2016, Vakatawa signed a two-year deal with the FFR so that he would exclusively play for the French 7s and 15s national teams. In October 2016, he was included again in the French 15's team even though he has yet to play for a Top 14 team. He played his first game on the wing against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

, scoring three tries. He played a week later against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

scoring a try in their 23-25 loss. He partnered Noa Nakaitaci on the wings and was renamed alongside Noa in their

final test Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the year against

. He was also named in the French 7's team for the

2016 Dubai Sevens The 2016 Dubai Sevens was the first tournament within the 2016–17 World Rugby Sevens Series. It was held over the weekend of 2–3 December 2016 at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Format The teams are drawn into four pools o ...

a week later and won the first-ever DHL Impact Player of the Tournament award. With France, he finished in the third place in the

2017 Six Nations Championship The 2017 Six Nations Championship was the 18th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. The tournament was also known as the RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by NatWest ...

. On 13 June 2017, it was announced that Vakatawa and the Federation had agreed to release him from his contract so that he could be able to find a club and play rugby union full-time. As part of this new deal however, he would still be available for the

2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the seventh edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Organised by World Rugby, it was held at AT&T Park, now known as Oracle Park, in San Francisco, United States. A total of 84 matches were played over three da ...

in the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

but was ultimately not called up in the squad. He played his last game with the France sevens team at the 2017 Paris Sevens and was never called up to the team again. In 2019, he played with France at the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, scoring two tries in three games. Vakatawa finished second with France national team again in the

2020 Six Nations Championship The 2020 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland ...

and the

2021 Six Nations Championship The 2021 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 22nd Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, ...

International tries

Playing style

Vakatawa is very versatile, being comfortable at the

and at the

, even if he prefers to play as a centre. He was progressively moved at the outside centre by his former

backs coach

Laurent Labit Laurent Labit (born 8 May 1973) is a retired French rugby union footballer, and current backs coach of the French national team. Early life Labit was born in Revel, France. He began his playing career in his home town of Rugby Club Revélois b ...

, who then coached him in the France national team. Virimi Vakatawa is regarded as possessing high pace, power and intelligence. His offloads passes are also very praised and he is renowned for his acceleration, footwork, vision and creativity to find spaces and exploit gaps in defences.

Personal life

Vakatawa obtained French nationality after learning

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

and France national anthem

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...

. His cousin is Fijian-born French international

player Noa Nakaitaci.

Honours

Racing 92

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

runner-up: 2017–18, 2019–20

France

runner-up:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

France 7's

Sevens Grand Prix Series The Rugby Europe Sevens are a series of rugby sevens tournaments held by Rugby Europe. It was formerly known as the FIRA-AER Sevens until 2013, and the Sevens Grand Prix Series until 2021. Only one annual tournament existed prior to 2011, when ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

References

External links

France profile

EPCR profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vakatawa, Virimi 1992 births Living people Rugby union players from Naitasiri Province French rugby union players French people of Fijian descent Racing 92 players Rugby union wings Rugby union centres I-Taukei Fijian people Rugby sevens players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic rugby sevens players for France France international rugby sevens players France international rugby union players 2019 Rugby World Cup players Fijian rugby union players Fijian rugby sevens players French rugby sevens players Naturalized citizens of France Naturalised sports competitors Fijian expatriate rugby union players Fijian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate rugby union players in France Fijian expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate rugby union players in England Bristol Bears players