The 23-year-old qualifies to play for Scotland via his a mother from Paisley.
Alexandra Masibaka.
A player of Fijian descent has been included into the Scotland rugby team for Sunday’s (Fiji time) Six Nations opener against Italy in Murrayfield.
Scotland head coach, Gregor Townsend named forward Alexandra Masibaka among the five inclusions.
They are Glasgow Warriors back-row Euan Ferrie, Leicester Tigers second-row Cameron Henderson, Oyonnax second-row Ewan John-son, Soyaux-Angouleme back-row Masibaka and Glasgow Warriors full-back Ollie Smith have all been added to the squad.
Masibaka is clearly the curve-ball selection.
The 23-year-old qualifies to play for Scotland via his a mother from Paisley. His father is from Fiji and he was born in Perth, Australia, playing briefly for Western Force before moving to France, initially to join Montpellier in 2022 where he spent a season without playing a 1st XV game, before joining Soyaux- Angouleme at the start of the 2023-4 campaign,
Masibaka replaces Josh Bayliss, who sustained a groin injury playing for Bath in their victory over Sale Sharks at the weekend, and will remain with Bath for further assessment to determine exact timescales for his recovery.
The back-row joins Sione Tuipulotu, Scott Cummings, Dylan Richard-son and Max Williamson on the list of players unavailable due to injury at the start of this tournaments.
Feedback: leonec@fijisun.com.fj
