THE depth in the FIJI Water Flying Fijians prop pack for their November tour of Europe is expected to be enhanced with the inclusion of newcomers Tim Hoyt and Atunaisa Sokobale.
The duo who ply their trade playing club rugby in England and France respectively, were named in the Flying Fijians 32-member squad announced at Rugby House in Suva yesterday.
Hoyt plays for the Worcester Warriors in the RFU Competition while Sokobale is part of the French Top 14 club Castres Olympique and is also the younger brother of Fijian winger Savenaca Rawaca.
Head coach Mick Byrne highlighted what having the duo in the squad would mean going forward into the Tests and beyond.
“We’re looking at our prop depth, we want to try and create some depth in that area,” Byrne mentioned.
“We know what some of our players are currently performing at, we know Luke Tagi is unavailable due to injury.
“We can’t wait too much longer to start giving some players that have been doing reasonably well and also have got a future to come off the bench.”
He highlighted having the younger players like Hoyt and Sokobale coming into the team is an indication of the team’s ability to offer promising starts for these players and develop them simultaneously.
“In the case of the two props (Hoyt and Sokobale), it’s an area that we’ve got to continue to build our depth in and that just gives us an opportunity.
“Both of them have been playing some good football and it’s time to bring them in.”
Meanwhile, the Flying Fijians squad is expected to gather in London, England later this month to start preparations for the Test matches against England, France and Spain next month.
Autumn Test fixtures for the Flying Fijians: November 9 at 4.40am – England, November 16 at 7.10am – France, November 22 at 2.10am – Spain.
