Raphaël LAKAFIA

Biog of Raphaël LAKAFIA :

The Biarritz number eight was the surprise pick in the squad announced for the World Cup by Marc Lièvremont on 11 May 2011. Raphael Lakafia had only started 19 matches in the Top 14 (20 counting the play-off defeat to Clermont) and 5 in the European Cup! But at 22 years of age he was beginning to fulfil the enormous potential that had only been glimpsed at over the previous seasons.

In June 2009, having only just signed up for Biarritz Olympique academy, the young number eight (20 years old at the time) flew off with France A to play in the Nations Cup against Italy A, Romania and Scotland A. Lakafia, a native of Tours, had been playing for FC Grenoble (Pro D2) for the previous three years, appearing more and more frequently for the first team over the last two years. However, his early career on the Basque coast did not follow the same upward trajectory, held back by a surplus 11 kilos and a succession of injury niggles. In the 2009-2010 season he did not make the professional team. And then, having shed his extra kilos, the young back-row player, who had passed through the National Rugby Centre at Marcoussis in 2006-2007, made his breakthrough after the third round of Championship matches this season.

Powerful (114kg!), quick and aggressive at the back of the scrum, capable of staying on his feet, Lakafia, to paraphrase coach Marc Lièvremont, “managed the no mean task” of pushing Imanol Harinordoquy (more than 60 caps at the beginning of the season) on to the flank. Lakafia improved throughout the season and out of all those selected for the squad to prepare for the World Cup was the only one never to have worn the French first team shirt. Could he be a World Cup revelation?

With family origins in New Caledonia, Raphael Lakafia is the son of international athletes Jean-Paul Lakafia (former French javelin record holder) and discus thrower Laurence Phillibert. He is the younger sibling of the winger Pierre-Gilles Lakafia, who passed through the National Rugby Centre at the same time as his brother and was later signed by Toulouse while playing for Albi.