Rupeni Caucaunibuca joins Northland

[nickdnz]

Very excited to hear this - though I think it's the nostalgia speaking more than anything. Always dream he'll get anywhere near his best form again, alas it's unlikely...

Still, a Caucau/Rene Ranger midfield...

This story was kept very quiet, only found it by chance.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=10870254

 

[psychic duck]

Huge signing!

Will be looking out for Northland matches to see when he gets on the field. If he does get on the field (nothing guaranteed with Rupeni).

He could have been alongside Lomu perhaps the greatest winger of all time. He was still mighty effective when 120kg playing for Toulouse, so it is mind boggling to imagine how good he could have been if he had put a little effort and application into his career.

He was probably at his slimmest at the Blues, and was unstoppable. Was unstoppable at Agen and Toulouse too to be fair (Top 14 top try scorer one year with a lower league club in Agen), but his best was with the Blues, and with Fiji in 2003. Still very sad that he only has represented Fiji for 7 caps.

 

[Draggs]

Huge signing, albeit literally.

Dumped by second div French teams, so hardly coming recommended.
A wasted talent.

 

[Darwin]

Yeah I saw this in the weekend - he should be an excellent signing for Northland. Though he is nowhere near the same player he was when he was last playing for Northland (probably 10 years ago) I'm sure he will still be very handy at this level, and he is sure to draw in the crowds! I agree with psychic duck: Caucau could have been the greatest wing of all time if he hadn't been so damn lazy...

 

[jordiev]

how different do you think his attitude would have been had his attempts to jump ship from fiji to the allblacks been successful?

 

[nickdnz]

how different do you think his attitude would have been had his attempts to jump ship from fiji to the allblacks been successful?

Often wondered that myself. If he didn't train hard and behave in the All Blacks, he'd have just not made the squad - with Rokocoko and Doug Howlett both being exceptional wingers at the time (Rokocoko's 2003 international form was probably the best of any winger, period). With that said - I'd have thought being a part of that enviroment he'd have gained discipline (like he seemed to get at the Blues and Toulouse).

Would have loved to see him for the All Blacks, rather than the rare apperances he made for Fiji (though hardly Fiji's fault, he just never seemed interested enough).

 

[jordiev]

Often wondered that myself. If he didn't train hard and behave in the All Blacks, he'd have just not made the squad - with Rokocoko and Doug Howlett both being exceptional wingers at the time (Rokocoko's 2003 international form was probably the best of any winger, period). With that said - I'd have thought being a part of that enviroment he'd have gained discipline (like he seemed to get at the Blues and Toulouse).

Would have loved to see him for the All Blacks, rather than the rare apperances he made for Fiji (though hardly Fiji's fault, he just never seemed interested enough).

i think your right tbh it would of been the making of him, and tbh before the door shut on that option... he wasn't that bad as you said he seemed disciplined at the blues, just seemed he kinda stopped caring and trying as hard after the all blacks wasn't an option but idk i just think its such a shame that we never saw what he could have became. hopefully he puts in a few good shows at nothland maybe get to see some good highlights on youtube

 

[Aedaphon]

Ah, will love to see the big man again. It was incredible how such a large man could still play with a surprising amount of grace.

This try was always a favourite:

 

[Amobokoboko]

Good to see him back, hopefully he will do an effort this time.

 

[psychic duck]

Rokocoko's 2003 international form was probably the best of any winger, period.

Not saying you're wrong. But Lomu (1995 & 1999), Caucaunibuca (2003-2004), Habana (2007), Shane (2007-2008) all had periods of form when they were simply unstoppable and scored numerous unbelievable tries. There hasn't been a standout winger have a magic period quite like they did since Shane in 2008, perhaps Savea could be the next?

With that said - I'd have thought being a part of that enviroment he'd have gained discipline (like he seemed to get at the Blues and Toulouse).

Don't forget he was mighty effective at Agen as well for a while. He was top try scorer in the Top 14 in 2006 whilst playing with a lower league side. Unfortunately though, his weight gained and performances did tail off towards the end of his stint there. But was still incredible for a while.

 

[nickdnz]

Rupeni Caucaunibuca's Awanui bootcamp continues to work wonders for him as he remains injury-free and down to 108kg.

His Awanui rugby coach Glen Subritzky puts it simply, "He's no rock star with us. He gets told to do the same stuff as everyone, and if he doesn't do it then he's told to leave."

Subritzky has a strong rapport with the 34-year-old Caucau, who has been named in a Classic All Blacks side which will play Fiji in a friendly match to celebrate their centenary, saying he was flown to Fiji a few years ago to get the flying winger back into shape. But, this time, he's dealing with a changed player.

"He's a little bit different this time round," Subritzky said. "He knows it's his last chance. He has never trained like this before. I think he's going to be in better physical condition, [and] we've got another couple of months training [before the ITM Cup].

"This is a muscly Rupeni, he'll break tackles rather than go around players. This time around he has a totally different body shape, huge shoulders, he was never this big. When he left the Blues he was 104kg and now he's at 108."

Caucau will turn out for half a game tonight for the Mangonui side in their Harding Shield clash against defending champions Bay of Islands.

Subritzky said Caucau's knee, which has been giving him trouble since returning to Northland, was not giving him any trouble at the weekend when he played second-five for Awanui in their 76-12 win over Ngaru Roa.

http://www.northernadvocate.co.nz/news/Rugby-caucau-all-muscled-up/1877284/

Sounds promising so far...

 

[Larksea]

pretty cool news, always great to have former greats in the ITM cup. Like the kees meeuws and Marty Hollahs we have had recently. These guys do bring people through the gates.

as for the other argument, I also think Joe Rokocoko's 2003 season trumps anything any other winger has done in the modern game including Jonah Lomu

17 trys in one season, 25 trys in his first 20 tests.

steadily dropped off over time, now he's only 29 and I dont even know where he's playing. I think his main problem was also his gift, he naturally grew muscle like crazy and his body had a high response to training, in his later years in NZ he had to limit the amount of training he did or he would get to heavy with muscle and it slowed him down.

I really think he should have seriously made a move to center due to his changing physical attributes.

 

[psychic duck]

Caucau is playing for the Classic All Blacks side is he?

That is looking like it could be the Blues 2003 backline reunited as Spencer, Tuitupou and Rokocoko are all in it as well. Although it is a bit strange to see Caucau playing against Fiji, he really should be tearing up the PNC.

I can't wait to see him play again when there's a match on TV he's in, he's one player who is certainly box office and one you will turn on the TV for if you see his name on the teamsheet. In fact, I wish the Barbarians had named him in their side ahead of Tindall.

 

[nickdnz]

pretty cool news, always great to have former greats in the ITM cup. Like the kees meeuws and Marty Hollahs we have had recently. These guys do bring people through the gates.

as for the other argument, I also think Joe Rokocoko's 2003 season trumps anything any other winger has done in the modern game including Jonah Lomu

17 trys in one season, 25 trys in his first 20 tests.

steadily dropped off over time, now he's only 29 and I dont even know where he's playing. I think his main problem was also his gift, he naturally grew muscle like crazy and his body had a high response to training, in his later years in NZ he had to limit the amount of training he did or he would get to heavy with muscle and it slowed him down.

I really think he should have seriously made a move to center due to his changing physical attributes.

He's currently playing for Bayonne in France - where they've moved him to centre. After a very poor start hes looked to come around towards the end of the season - although hes still only managed one try in almost two years in the Top 14 (scored a couple in the Amlin Challenge Cup). I agree Rokocoko of 2003 was the most devistating winger of any player - at least certainly for the All Blacks. His issue was confidence I believe. In 2009 he lost condfidence - and then he was asked to play a game plan which involved an extremely high work rate - but didn't utilize any of his flair. I remember reading in 2009 after an All Black training squadthat he still had the fastest sprint times in the squad by some margin - but he didn't look like he was comfortable going himself - which earlier years he had no problem with.

Caucaunibuca is playing for the Classic All Blacks as a guest. A tad ironic that he ends up some how playing against Fiji for New Zealand, maybe a little over a decade from what many hoped. He is once of those players I'll always watch. It'd be amazing to see Sivivatu, Rokocoko and Caucaunibuca playing at the same time - arguably the three best Fijian wingers ever.

 

[Muzzy]

Man I always thought 2005 was Rokocoko's best year for the all blacks, he scored a lot of tries in 2003 but most of them were just being on the side and getting the overlap. Compare the tries Caucau scored in 2003 to the one's Rokocoko scored in 2003.

I think the best tries he scored were in 2005, he was more physical, broke tackles and created tries. The one he scored against South Africa was his best imo. I read that Joe used to play centre in high school and he said that was his favourite position, maybe they should have switched him there earlier. I used to actually hate on Joe in 2003 lol coz I hated his dives and at the time I thought he was overrated, nz had a shortage of wingers that year because every team had foreign fijian or samoan players, so Joe pretty much made the all blacks by default, but he ended up showing he deserved to be there and became one of nz's top wingers

 

[Sharkman84]

It's great news to see Caucau back in the southern hemisphere again.

I always enjoyed watching him play for the Blues even though I support the Waratahs.

If he drops a few kilos he could unleash hell on the ITM Cup.

Northland will be loving it if he does.

 

[Gambit]

Any idea when the big guy would play?

 

[nickdnz]

Any idea when the big guy would play?

First game should be tonight against Southland.

 

[nickdnz]

Caucau just scored his first two tries of the season - http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-news/itm-cup-happened-north-harbour-v-northland-5550937

 

[Blackdevil]

Apparently he wants to come back to fijian national team in 2014, but they are a lot of players in his position for fiji...but if Bai still plays an important role in fijian squad why not him?