Wallabies centre Samu Kerevi has held his hand up for selection for the Wallabies’ series against the British and Irish Lions this summer.
The 31-year-old Fiji-born centre, who has graced stages such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Commonwealth Games, is aiming to compete against the tourists for the first time in his career.
Urayasu D-Rocks centre Kerevi exclusively told RugbyJP.com: “I always want to wear the gold jersey, we have amazing centres at the moment from Super Rugby, there’s a lot of competition for the 12 and 13 jersey and with different combinations.
“I’m sure if I can play well here, I can put my hand up for selection, there’s a lot of things out of our control in terms of selection so I’ll just control my performances here in Japan.”
The in-form veteran has played a starring role for Greig Laidlaw’s division one newcomers and was instrumental in their hard-fought win against Honda Heat in February.
Ex-Suntory star Kerevi, who has scored four tries this season, is focused on the task in hand with his club and, in his second season at his ambitious club, has developed a strong midfield partnership with former Japan international Shane Gates.
Urayasu led star-laden Kubota Spears 22-0 on Friday before imploding and letting the 2023 League One champions come back and score five tries without reply in the second half.
“We were building for the last few weeks; we knew that Kubota is a quality side but it’s disappointing when you can’t put it together or 80 minutes.
“There were a few calls that didn’t go our way and then there was a momentum shift, their forwards brought a lot of power, and we weren’t able to counter that.
“It’s important to look at the good things we did, and to take the learnings it seems to be the same week after week, we’re just not putting the performance together for the full game.”
Basement outfit Urayasu travel to play Honda Heat on Saturday 22 March in a crucial game for the top-flight newcomers.
Pictures courtesy of Urayasu D-Rocks
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