{"id":352216,"date":"2023-12-07T02:00:56","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T03:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=352216"},"modified":"2023-12-07T06:01:39","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T06:01:39","slug":"rugby-reacts-to-disaster-as-nrl-lands-killer-blow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=352216","title":{"rendered":"Rugby reacts to 'disaster' as NRL lands killer blow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taniela Tupou admits Mark Nawaqanitawase's NRL defection will leave a big hole in the Wallabies after the world class winger \ufeffjumped ship to the Roosters.<\/a><\/p>\n

Nawaqanitawase will continue to play for the Waratahs in Super Rugby Pacific next year and will be available for Wallabies selection in 2024.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old will then essentially trade places with Roosters star Joseph Suaalii, who joins the Rugby Australia books in October.<\/a><\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season on the home of rugby, Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> Every round exclusive, ad free, live and on demand<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mark<\/p>\n

\ufeffNawaqanitawase will play for the Roosters in 2025 and 2026 before a potential return to the Wallabies in 2027 when Australia hosts the Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n

Fast, strong and exceptional under the high ball, \ufeffNawaqanitawase was arguably Australia's best player during a disastrous 2023 under Eddie Jones.<\/p>\n

"Look, he's done well, he's done well for himself and for our team, the Wallabies, and we're definitely going to miss him," fellow superstar Tupou told reporters.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Rare dismissal stuns cricket in 72-year first<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Roosters snap up Wallabies superstar in mega NRL win<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> F1's stunning move against 'misogynistic' investigation<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportRugby\/status\/1732542321646846187?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

"But I think it's what's best for him and, yeah, I wish him all the best. I don't know, I'm just here as a mate, as a teammate and support him whatever he does and I know he'll do the same for me. So I'm I'm not going to comment.<\/p>\n

"I'm just going to say I wish him all the best and hopefully he goes well."<\/p>\n

Another of \ufeffNawaqanitawase's teammates, Angus Bell, was confident rugby could ride out the storm with the British and Irish Lions tour on the horizon in 2025.<\/p>\n

"That's completely up to Marky and what he does," Bell said.<\/p>\n

"I don't think people will lose interest. The World Cup wasn't good and as we know, we weren't good enough there. It's never going to be a positive, but I believe there are plenty of kids coming through the system that can aspire to be Wallabies and who want to play for the Wallabies."\ufeff<\/p>\n

RA chief executive Phil Waugh also did his best to put on a brave face.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"Nawaqanitawase<\/p>\n

"We are disappointed \u2013 Mark has been a strong player over the last 12 months.<\/p>\n

"However, the outside backs are a position of strength for us, with great depth coming through," Waugh said.<\/p>\n

"We are confident we are well stocked with talented wingers for the future."\ufeff<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/benny_alexander\/status\/1732504752788017652?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

Former Wallabies prop Ben Alexander, however, called the move a "disaster."\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Taniela Tupou admits Mark Nawaqanitawase's NRL defection will leave a big hole in the Wallabies after the world class winger \ufeffjumped ship to the Roosters. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":333726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352216"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=352216"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":352219,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352216\/revisions\/352219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/333726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=352216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=352216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=352216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}