Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Paul Ackford previews the return of the Pacific Islanders to UK shores, and reveals that there will be plenty of colour behind the scenes.
"In two weeks Sitiveni Rabuka, the former Prime Minister of Fiji, will check in to a Heathrow hotel as manager of the 28-man Pacific Islands' squad who will play Tests against England, France and Italy. The choice of Heathrow is deliberate.
"We didn't want our boys getting dazzled by the bright lights of London," said a spokesman for the party comprising the best players from Tonga, Samoa and Fiji.
"Not that the manager should have too much trouble maintaining focus. Major-General Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka, OBE, MSD, Order of St John - as he was once known - is best remembered as the instigator of two military coups that shook Fiji in 1987. Two years ago he was found not guilty, on a casting vote, of inciting a mutiny in 2000. Colourful bloke, Rabuka."
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