We Have Lost Fifita!

[Neils]

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/scarlets-sign-fifita-all-blacks-22687628.amp

[Neils]

Bugger - one of this season's bright spots.

[Steve from Cov]

I don’t believe it😩

[Raggs]

Struggle to believe it's due to the cap, seeing as it's not new, and he's only a season in.

Irritating news though.

[Rossm]

That's a blow.

[MarleyWasp]

The Mail say that Jimmy is on Leicester's shopping list. What a depressing evening it's turning into...

[Rossm]

Losing Fifita may go some way to explaining the rumour about signing David Meiheizen.

[Steve from Cov]

Struggle to believe it's due to the cap, seeing as it's not new, and he's only a season in.

Irritating news though.

Struggle to believe Wasps got their (budget) sums wrong.

[Steve from Cov]

BBC and Daily Telegraph are now reporting this too.

[Trevs Big Tackle]

Did we only sign him on a one year contract? Or are we offloading him mid contract?

How are other teams recruiting while we are offloading basically all our high earners?

[BdeB]

Is this partly come about because of Alfie’s decision to stay in the back row. I suspect Fifita was promised the back row mainly. But given our riches in the back row maybe his contract was seen as an extravagance. I wonder if push came to a shove who we would prefer Koch or Fifita?

[BrackenandMacken]

How can a club desperately short of second rows lose a second row who has only been around for 6 months?

Losing Jimmy wouldn't be huge, I thought he's looked like a lost lamb recently, but Fifita is a tight 5 forward who is actually able to turn out at a weekend on a regular basis. At this club he is in rare company in this regard so that fact he is off is incredibly frustrating!

[JonnyD]

What the hell is this?!

This makes no sense at all. We can’t have got our sums wrong as we’re already signing and offloading players. Surely he cannot be that unhappy in the UK if he is then not moving back to NZ.
No way we signed him on a one year deal and no way he’d move his family for one year from NZ where covid wasn’t a problem.

Really really shocked at this as he’s been talked of so highly by players and coaches and has been playing well.
Only possibility for me is that they’ve offered him much much higher wages.
Or something has gone on with his Tonga eligibility and maybe we’ve tried to change his terms and he didn’t like it.

I’m clutching at straws here but nothing official yet and no quotes from anyone in that article. Hopefully we’ll hear more from Lee later

[Westy68]

That is really disappointing, especially to hear wasps saying that they got their sums wrong.

We are losing a lot of quality players with Youngs and Fekitoa going as well.

We can’t be struggling to keep under the cap, when you look at other teams.

This is not good

[Rossm]

West, where have you seen Wasps saying they have got their sums wrong?