A dream birthed at Vaturu District School in Nadi has now turned into a reality for 27-year-old Peniasi Dakuwaqa who has been called in to join the FIJI Water Flying Fijians.
It’s been a long time coming for the Stade Francais winger who rocked the Top14 world after an individual act of class against Racing 92 earlier this year.
He confirmed with this newspaper that his agent was contacted by Flying Fijians head coach Mick Byrne, and they have agreed to join the team this weekend.
The Nagado, Nadi villager departed Paris for Georgia today.
He is one of the 12 to 15 Europe-based players to join the Flying Fijians as the Regulation 9 window opened yesterday.
He joins the Flying Fijians today in Georgia ahead of their upcoming Test match next Saturday at Adjarabet Arena providing options at the wing and at fullback.
Many may know him as the lanky speedster in pink that scored a stunner against Racing 92 in February and his pace is something Athletics Fiji can attest to having represented the country during the 2008 Pacific School Games.
While he was focusing solely on athletics at the time, his late grandfather Simeli Navuranisina saw the potential he had in rugby.
“I started from Vaturu District after my grandfather who raised me was asked to allow me to play for the school and it just went from there. I lived in Australia for a couple of years where I played 7s before I had to go back home to look after my grandfather who was sick at the time.
“After a while I went to play in the Cook Islands where I met my wife, came back to Fiji to play sevens and in 2022 I got an offer from Stade Francais on my email,” Dakuwaqa shared.
Throughout his journey, his late grandfather had only one wish and that was for him to don the white jumper and represent his country one day.
“The person that my selection would mean a lot to would be my grandfather who passed away because he raised me up. It’s been a long time since I’ve been trying to get into the national team and so this is a dream come true and an honor to represent Fiji,” he said.
Dakuwaqa is no stranger to the Fijian players in France and said he will settle in well with the team.
His aim is to make the starting line-up against Georgia and prove that he has what it takes to be a Flying Fijian.
The Fiji versus Georgia Test is scheduled for next Saturday at 4am.
