GLASGOW WARRIOR are insisting Taqele Naiyaravoro, the giant winger, will be joining them as planned as soon as he is clear from other commitments. He is likely to end the weekend with an Australian cap after being picked on the bench for their match against the USA, which would scupper any plans for him to play for Fiji, where he was born, or Scotland where he is contracted for the next three years.
When he signed for Glasgow, there were suggestions that Naiyaravoro was the latest of the so-called "project players" – invited to Scotland until he qualified on residential grounds – but since then, the player has edge closer to playing for Australia and made it clear that is where he sees his future.
Yesterday, a spokesman at Glasgow Warriors refused to comment on what, if any, get-out clauses there were in the 6ft 5ins, 19st 5lb winger's contract but insisted they expected him to turn up as soon as he was released by Australia.
In naming his side for this weekend's match, Michael Cheika, the Wallaby coach, said Naiyaravoro, who starred for the NSW Waratahs in the summer, had committed himself to Australia. "There is no way I would have selected him to play for Australia if he didn't want to play for Australia," he was quoted as saying.
"Taqele is a lovely guy. He's been excellent since he came across from rugby league, and he is so happy to get selected. There is no way I would have done it unless he said to me categorically he wanted to play for Australia. He loves Australia, his kid was born there and he sees himself as an Australian."
Cheika added that he expects 24-year-old Naiyaravoro to head for Scotland, but return to Australia as soon as possible, with 2017 being mooted as a possible compromise finishing date.
Closer to home, Glasgow will know whether or not their second-string has been good enough to get them off to a winning start in defence of their Guinness PRO12 title. They have 20 players off to the World Cup – 16 with Scotland, four with other nations – and the evidence of their match in Canada last week is that they could do with extra attacking flair.
As Fraser Lyle, the centre, pointed out, nobody should be too surprised. After all, three of the four centres in the Scotland squad are from Glasgow, with Alex Dunbar, who is currently injured, making a fourth unavailable midfielder.
"My main ambition is to play these five games and do as well as I can," he said. "Then beyond that, if Gregor [Townsend, the head coach] wants to pick me that would be great. I have got to focus on these games and do my job here before thinking of anything beyond that. I know the best centres in Scotland are coming back; it will be good to learn off these guys. They are all good guys and helpful. There is not a nasty atmosphere in training, they stay and help if you ask."
For the likes of Lyle, who was holding down an office job in an estate agency this time last year, before being plucked from Stirling County in November, this is probably a once-in-a-career opportunity; one he is determined to take.
"It has been a long preseason but the whole squad has made a lot of gains," he said. "The standard of playing here is such that if you are playing here, you are not far off the Scotland team. I knew I had to work hard to get to the level they were at. The competition just drives you on."
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