It’s good to be back – Nakarawa

Three years, nine months and 16 days have passed since Leone Nakarawa stepped out onto the Scotstoun pitch in a Glasgow Warriors jersey. Tonight, the Fijian will once again run out in front of the Warrior Nation.

The man from
Tavua has already made quite the impression at the start of his second spell
with the club; after a reaction more usually associated with rock stars greeted
his re-signing, Nakarawa took all of two minutes to cross the whitewash on his
second club debut against Sale Sharks last month.

Judging from
the smile that’s been a near-permanent fixture on his face during the last week
of training, it’s clear Nakarawa is enjoying his return to Glasgow just as much
as the Warrior Nation.

“It’s really
good to be back,” he said.

“I’m excited
to be back with the boys and I’m really looking forward to playing in front of
the Glasgow supporters once more. The challenge I set to myself is to play at
the level I was playing at before I left [in 2016].”

That level
is an indication of the standards to which Nakarawa holds himself. Indeed on
his last outing in a Glasgow shirt, the 2016 Olympian went out and grabbed a
hat-trick against Zebre in a 70-10 victory. With the same opponents coming to
town this evening, can the Scotstoun faithful expect something similar?

“I don’t
know about a hat-trick this time!” laughed the Fijian.

“First
things first I want to do my job as a forward and help the team as best I can.

“We want to
get the win first, and anything that comes after that is a bonus.”

With the
race for a place in the 2019/20 Guinness PRO14 Final Series heating up at the
top of Conference A, Dave Rennie’s men know that every point is vital between
now and the end of the season. Despite the clash taking place on Valentine’s
Day, there will be no room for niceties in front of a packed house at Scotstoun
tonight.

Nakarawa
himself is fully focused on the task at hand – he’ll reflect on his second home
debut later.

“Zebre will
be a challenging opponent, but it’s a challenge I’m excited about,” said the
man himself.

“The Italian
teams are always a physical test, but we’ll front up well. The boys have been
preparing really well and it’s up to us to go out there and perform. If they
bring their physicality, we’ll front up to meet that.

“All that
matters is performing to the best of our ability – we know that if we run our
plays and go out there, then we’ve got enough to get the job done.”