Top 14: Josua Tuisova, the expected return of “The Animal”

A first that will make noise. Racing 92's flagship recruit, Fijian Josua Tuisova will make his big debut this Saturday with the Ile-de-France club opposing Bayonne. And it is in Auxerre that this long-awaited match will take place since the Nanterre Arena is requisitioned for Taylor Swift concerts. All eyes will therefore be on the Abbé-Deschamps stadium where one of the very best players in the Top 14 - nicknamed "Jos" or more radically "the Animal" - will make his return to competition. After long months of convalescence.

Because the 29-year-old Fijian international (25 caps) has not played again since the last World Cup and the quarter-final lost by his team against England (30-24). In the 72nd minute of the match, Tuisova Tuisova suffered a violent tackle (without arms) from flanker Tommy Curry and was hit in the left knee.

This World Cup had been most painful for him since, during the competition, the former Toulon and Toulon player had been affected by terrible grief. A few hours before the match against Georgia, Josua had learned of the death of his seven-year-old son, following a long illness. But he had decided not to attend the boy's funeral, in Votua, his hometown in Fiji, to hold his place against Portugal and ensure (despite the defeat) his team's qualification for the quarter-finals. Discreet in the media and naturally reserved off the field, Tuisova subsequently did not comment on this terrible tragedy.

It is therefore this Saturday that he will finally return to the field, he who played 19 Top 14 matches with Lyon last season (17 as a starter) and scored nine tries. Olympic champion with the Fiji 7s team in 2016, Tuisova will once again terrorize the defenses of the Top 14. Mourad Boudjellal, who brought him to the RCT in 2013, declared, when he arrived in the Var: “We has rarely seen that in rugby, he is perhaps the only player since Jonah Lomu who can cross the field like that. And, recently, he added a layer, in his very cash style: “The guy who plays against Josua Tuisova, the day before, he always takes a kit to go to the hospital with pajamas and a toothbrush. We never know !"

The cubic Fijian (1.81 m for 108 kg), who has baobabs for legs, is a player of unparalleled power and explosiveness in the Top 14. A constant threat, a difficult player to Stop. In 2021, he finished top scorer in the French championship, with 14 tries. And, his former coach at Toulon, Richard Cockerill, detailed: “He’s the kind of winger (or center) that you hate to face. With the ball he is very strong. He's small but so strong. He's a huge player, a phenomenon. One on one, he is unstoppable.”

His return to action comes at the best time for Racing 92: as the final stages approach. “Jos” was able to immerse himself in the new system put in place by Stuart Lancaster, he will now have to implement it. Frédéric Michalak, who worked with him in Toulon before training him in Racing, explained his development to our colleagues at L'Equipe: “In Toulon, he first dazzled us with his crazy speed. Little by little, at the same time as he gained weight, he improved his knowledge of the game, his reading. He achieved remarkable quality in the one-on-one, before or in contact. And to remember that the Fijian is not a “nag” only adept at breaking bricks: “We must not underestimate his skill, the feeling he has with the ball. He's a boy who has a very good pass on both sides, who is capable of making a 25-meter pass at full speed. It's not easy for everyone." We experienced Racing without it. We should soon see Racing with Tuisova.