Saili Eyes Silverware After Turning His Back On All Blacks

GIFTED centre Francis Saili believes his unique brand of passing skills, embellished by gainline-busting, off-loading qualities reminiscent of Sonny Bill Williams can help fire Harlequins to their first silverware in five years.

- Neale Harvey

Twice-capped former All Black Saili, 26, revealed how he turned down a chance to head home to fight for a World Cup place after leaving Munster in May. Instead, he is delighted to be pitting his wits in the Premiership in a star-studded Harlequins midfield.

Saili, who will do battle with Jamie Roberts and rising England star Joe Marchant, told The Rugby Paper: “Everything was open to me – France, England or Super Rugby – but I saw joining Harlequins as a huge opportunity for myself and my partner.

“I had a chat with Charles Piutau, who played in England for Wasps before joining Ulster, and we agreed these are the sort of opportunities we never get back home... to live in London, play rugby here and embrace the European competition.

“You’ve just got to take them and whether that means sacrificing your All Blacks dream, at the end of the day it’s a different perspective for us. We see the world through different lenses and I’ve been blessed throughout my career in that regard.

“My family come from Samoa where they never really had these opportunities so you’ve just got to embrace it. Part of it is about supporting my family as well, so that’s why I wanted to come to a team like Harlequins that’s really family orientated.

“I had an open mind but (rugby director) John Kingston kept tabs on me and reassured me that they’d look after everything off the field as well as on it. If a player’s not happy at home it can affect the rugby, so that was very important to me.”