FORMER Wallabies superstar Radike Samo will make a surprise return to Super Rugby this season.
This time, Samo will join fellow Fijian Sefanaia Naivalu at the Melbourne Rebels.
Capped 23 times by the Wallabies, the towering Fijian loose forward said in a Rebels statement that he was eager to have another shot at Super Rugby.
“I am very keen to give Super Rugby one last shot and I feel I have a lot to offer,” the Narewa villager from Nadi said.
The former Wallabies number eight, last played Super Rugby with Queensland in 2013 before linking with Japanese Top League club Kintetsu Liners.
He was a key member of the Reds squad that lifted the Super Rugby trophy in 2011.
“I am really excited about coming to Melbourne. I’m also very grateful for the opportunity to join the Victorian rugby community. There’s a big Pacific Islander rugby family in Melbourne, and I’m looking forward to becoming part of that,” the 38-year-old said.
Samo will join former Reds team-mates Scott Higginbotham, Mike Harris and Dom Shipperley at the Rebels and he adds depth to Tony McGahan’s back row stocks in Melbourne.
He previously played 35 games for the Brumbies between 2000 and 2006 before stints in France and Japan.
In 2010, Samo returned from Japan to play for the Southern Districts Rebels in the Shute Shield competition before joining the Reds on a short-term contract as cover for James Horwill.
He started off slowly but after several games he was dubbed “outstanding” by then Reds coach Ewen Mckenzie.
Samo has three Super Rugby titles under his belt, two with the Brumbies in 2001 and 2004 before helping the Reds to triumph in 2011 on his 35th birthday.
