Sevens great Waisale Serevi says ‘mini-Jonah’ Semi Radradra should be rushed into Fiji Sevens, XV

WAISALE Serevi says Semi Radradra is a ‘mini-Jonah Lomu’ and should play for the Fijian Sevens team at the Commonwealth and Olympic Games, and in the 2019 Rugby World Cup as well.

Semi Radradra should be on the fast track for Fiji says Waisale Serevi. Picture: AFP

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SWITCHING codes proved too tough for Jarryd Hayne, but Semi Radradra is a “mini-Jonah Lomu” who should be fast-tracked into the Fijian Sevens team for the Commonwealth Games — and play at the 2019 Rugby World Cup and 2020 Olympics as well.

That’s the view of Fiji’s most revered rugby icon, Waisale Serevi, who welcomed the news Radradra had turned his back on an NRL return to stay in rugby union.

The Eels had held out hope their rampaging Fijian winger would return from French club Toulon this year, but the big money on offer has convinced Radradra to sign a two-year deal with Top 14 rivals Bordeaux, through to 2020.

Semi Radradra should be on the fast track for Fiji says Waisale Serevi. Picture: AFP

The decision means Radradra is free to play for Fiji in the Rugby World Cup next year and even make a return to the Fijian Sevens team, for whom he played as a teenager prior to his switch to league.

The Fijian Rugby Union is interested in him playing both Sevens and 15-a-side. Test coach John McKee wants Radradra in his squad and Fijian officials last month named the 25-year-old in a 45-man preliminary Sevens squad for the Commonwealth Games.

When it comes to endorsements in Fiji rugby, they don’t come much bigger than from Serevi, who is widely regarded as the GOAT — Greatest Of All Time — in Sevens after dominating on the world circuit between 1990 and 2007. He also played in three Rugby World Cups and was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2013.

Waisale Serevi at the HSBC Rugby Festival in Dubai in 2014. Picture: Getty Images

“Semi​ has everything a coach would want,” Serevi told the Daily Telegraph from Seattle. “He has skills, the size and the speed. He is very powerful. He’s like a mini-Jonah Lomu.

“I followed him at the Eels. I would love to see him have a go at the Fiji XVs rugby for the World Cup in 2019, and Fiji Sevens for the World Cup this year and the Olympics in 2020.

“He has also been named in a squad for the Commonwealth Games, and from my point of view, at the moment, for a winger in Fijian Sevens right now, do we need a wing?

“Of course, yes. And Semi has the capabilities of becoming a good Sevens player in rugby.”

The fact Radradra has been named in a preliminary squad for the Commonwealth Games means Fiji’s coaches “are already interested” in the powerhouse wing, Serevi said.

And lining up a kick during the Hong Kong Sevens in 1993. Picture: Allsport

“He can be named to play in the Commonwealth Games for Fiji,” he said. “It depends on his club, I suppose, to release him.”

Serevi, who also coached the Fiji Sevens team, has been running the Atavus rugby academy in Seattle for eight years and knows what it takes to succeed at the top level in Sevens.

Serevi said Radradra’s background in Sevens was his biggest asset, having played for Fiji as a 19-year-old. “He knows Sevens — he started from Sevens and played for Fiji.

“He knows the inside and out of Sevens, like all rugby players in Fiji — all of us come through Sevens rugby, especially the outside backs.”

Jarryd Hayne didn’t have the background to cut it in Sevens. Picture: Getty Images

Serevei said that familiarity with the game was Radradra’s big advantage over Hayne, another high-profile convert — albeit temporary — from league (via American football), who played Sevens for Fiji in the lead-up to the 2016 Olympic Games but missed the final cut for Rio.

“I would have loved for Jarryd to go one more step ahead, but his background, he didn’t play a lot of rugby union.

“Semi has the capability. Give him the hills for two weeks, running in the sandhills, and he will be unstoppable.”

Radradra, who played a league Test for the Kangaroos, appears a certainty to play international rugby for Fiji this year.

McKee told Fox Sports he spoke with Radradra last year and the winger had expressed a desire to represent his country in Tests.

“If he keeps up the current form, expect to see him playing for the Flying Fijians before the year is out,” McKee said.

Originally published as Sevens great Waisale Serevi says ‘mini-Jonah’ Semi Radradra should be rushed into Fiji Sevens, XV