England’s dressing room has long been a multicultural place but never has the Pacific island input at Twickenham been more striking. Even with Billy Vunipola emerging as a slight injury doubt for Saturday’s Test against Fiji the theme is set to be continued by another big South Sea islander, Nathan Hughes, who is poised to take over at No8.
Vunipola is described by England’s medical staff as having “upper body soreness” which will sideline him from training until Wednesday at the earliest. That potentially opens the door for the 25-year-old Hughes, newly qualified for England under the three-year residency rule, who could be named in the same 23-man squad as the Vunipola brothers, the former Samoa rugby league international Ben Te’o and the Fijian-born Semesa Rokoduguni.
When Manu Tuilagi is also fit again the Pacific vibe will be stronger than ever. The South Sea bubble could burst if World Rugby bows to pressure to increase the required residency period to five years but that will not bother Hughes, now looking forward to belting out God Save The Queen as a member of the starting XV, having made his debut as a second-half replacement against South Africa. “I can say it’s my country now,” beamed the Wasps No8 on Monday. “It was huge and it was emotional. This is home for me and yes, it does feel like that.”
Surely, though, he will have mixed feelings if, or more probably when, he faces the country of his birth? Hughes, who grew up in the sugar cane town of Lautoka on the west coast of the main Fijian island of Viti Levu, insists otherwise – “I’ll only be singing God Save the Queen” – and is unfazed by the extra physical treatment likely to await him. “I do understand that. If you’re an islander you know what is coming. You take it and you have got to give it back. They’ll know it’s coming too.
“It will be very special to make this first start against Fiji but we’ve got a lot of class back-rowers in the squad, waiting for the opportunity. You just have to train well and, when you get an opportunity, take it with both hands.”
Hughes has been doing that for some time, having never played a game of 15-a-side rugby prior to 2008. He was a hockey player until being asked at short notice to play against a touring school team from Auckland, performing so well he was offered a scholarship straight after the game. “I do look back and think: ‘What would I be doing if I wasn’t playing rugby?’” he told the Guardian in May.
He has not taken a backward step since arriving at Wasps in 2013 as a direct replacement for the Saracens-bound Vunipola. “I’ll probably shout him dinner one day and say: ‘Thank you for moving!’” said Hughes, whose rampaging influence off the back of the scrum has been a cornerstone of Wasps’ recent upturn in fortunes. “If we get the opportunity to play together that would be great. It would be a threat for the other team: pick which one you want to take. It would be good if we could run on together. I try to base my game around carrying and getting my team on the front foot. In defence I like to make my collisions and dominate people.”
He is equally upfront about the primary reason he opted not to pursue a Test career in his native land. The potential rewards now available to England players, not least a match fee of around £22,000 per game, are increasing and will always eclipse the amounts available to their Fijian counterparts. “I would love for Fiji to have more resources, but it is the way it is. They just have to deal with it and live on whatever they have got,” says Hughes. “There is a big difference and that is why people want to play rugby and how they survive.
“It is their bread and butter. That’s the decision I made – I play my rugby to support my family and put shelter over their heads. All the comments I’ve had have been positive, with people happy and proud of the decision I have made. Three years is a long time coming so to run out on the field on Saturday to represent the red rose was good.”
The Bath lock Dave Attwood will be unavailable for the Fiji game with a swollen knee. He is hoping to be fit to face Argentina next week but his uncapped club-mate Charlie Ewels is now within touching distance of a senior Test debut.
