Mark Nawaqanitawase has made it clear that Fiji and Italy are very real options as the Wallabies sweat on his Rugby World Cup decision.
Given Nawaqanitawase has already played 11 Tests for Australia, and then represented the Kangaroos in league, it had been widely and wrongly assumed that a Wallabies return was a given once he signed in February to make his rugby return in Japan.
The 26-year-old would be a marketing dream for Rugby Australia at a home World Cup next year, but the freakish winger has now opened up about the broader family and cultural factors at play.
Nawaqanitawase’s father Sevuloni is from Fiji and his mother Fiona has Italian heritage.
He told The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast that Australians would be “shocked at how in time I am with both cultures”.
“I’ve grown up in a household full of Fijians,” Nawaqanitawase said during the extensive chat with ex-England international James Haskell and host Alex Payne.
“The other side of it is my mother’s fluent in Italian and my aunties and grandparents have grown up on the same street. Any special event, there’s been Italian food around and the language being spoken about.
“And growing up in a house full of Fijians – my mum’s got a big heart – I’ve grown up my whole life with not just my mum and stepdad and brother and sister, it’s been us, plus another Fijian family – and it’s been on rotation. They stay for two years and another one will come in.”
Nawaqanitawase visited Fiji every year growing up during school holidays.
“I grew up in the village running around playing touch, whether it was with a coconut or a bottle, playing volleyball or just swimming in the river,” he said.
“I’m lucky to have some cool experiences with my Fijian side.”
Nawaqanitawase will reportedly earn $3 million over two years by playing for Robbie Deans’ Saitama Wild Knights.
He swapped jerseys with another code-hopping star, Semi Radradra, after Fiji’s historic upset of the Wallabies at the 2023 World Cup in Saint-Étienne.
Nawaqanitawase wants to settle into his new life in Japan over the next two months before deciding his international future next year.
“I will obviously have a few things to think of,” he said.
“I want to make sure wherever I go, I’m happy, and the people around me, my family, are happy too. There’s a lot to think about. These decisions will have a massive impact on how your life goes…
“It’s not about the money. I get paid by my club and then if you play internationally, you might get a match fee, but it’s (insignificant).”
Nawaqanitawase is fresh from the high of scoring two tries in an NRL grand final win with the Sydney Roosters.
“That’s the biggest thing that’s made me open to everything is I’ve come from an experience at the Roosters where, I’m telling you, the set-up from top to bottom, just the way they’ve made me feel, and again the experience I had winning, I definitely do have to think about where am I going to go where I’m going to get that feeling again,” he said.
“People will never understand that, and that’s the biggest part of making the decision… I still have more to prove. I don’t know where that’s going to be, but wherever I go, I feel like I have a lot to give the team. Whoever it’s for, I want to go and win it (the 2027 World Cup). I don’t know who it will be for, but time will tell.”
Australia are ranked seventh in the world, with Fiji 10th and Italy 12th.
Fiji, who have just hired Jake White as their new coach, have never reached a World Cup semi-final while Italy are yet to reach the quarter-finals.
Nawaqanitawase added that it had been a “massive honour” playing for the Wallabies in 2022-23 before switching to the NRL and he “loved every moment of it.”
Wallabies coach Les Kiss has said that his conversations with Nawaqanitawase had been positive, and he was happy to give him space to make his decision.
Australia captain Harry Wilson recently indicated that he thought Nawaqanitawase’s return to a gold jersey was a given.
“I don’t think I have to convince him,” Wilson said.
“I played Junior Wallabies with him, played Wallabies with him, and saw him last night supporting the Kangaroos. So, I think it’s pretty obvious who he wants to play for.”
Nawaqanitawase has ruled himself out of contention for Australia’s Nations Championship Tests in the northern hemisphere next month.
Wallabies great Matt Giteau, meanwhile, was not impressed with how Nawaqanitawase was handling the situation.
“I want the people that want to play for the Wallabies to play for the Wallabies,” Giteau said on the Kick Offs and Kick Ons podcast.
“If you don’t, then go somewhere else.”
