By CHRIS RATTUE
Rupeni Caucaunibuca has quit the Super 12 and NPC to play in Europe.
The brilliant Fijian wing, who was courted by clubs around the world, will join a French club on a two year contract.
Caucaunibuca will begin playing for them this year after recovering from the shoulder injury which
cut his season for the Blues short.
Blues chief executive David White was ambivalent about his departure last night, saying: "At times he was sensational but he didn't play a lot of games for us in three years. We're not surprised he's going and we wish him well.
"He took up an abnormal chunk of our medical and management team's time. He was very high maintenance, not just with injuries but across the board."
White said it was "a coach's call" when asked if Caucaunibuca would have been retained by the Blues, who also have star wings Doug Howlett and Joe Rokocoko.
Caucaunibuca's value was underlined in Christchurch this year when he scored three superb tries to drive a struggling team to victory over the Crusaders. He averaged a try a game in the Super 12.
His lawyer David Jones said last night: "Rupeni has decided to commit to playing with a French club and will travel to France in June to sign a formal contract, which will commence from July 1."
The identity of the club was not revealed, as it wants to announce Caucaunibuca's signing.
Jones said the Brisbane Broncos rugby league club expressed an interest in Caucaunibuca, who turns 24 next month. English rugby club Newcastle, two French clubs and three from Japan also sought his services. Newcastle sent coach Rob Andrew and star back Jonny Wilkinson to Auckland to lure Caucaunibuca.
Jones said the New Zealand Rugby Union also made a bid to re-sign the wing, but were never close to matching the overseas offers for the Fijian international. Caucaunibuca was paid only slightly above the Super 12 minimum of $65,000 a year because he was not eligible for the All Blacks.
Caucaunibuca has been a brilliant if injury-prone match winner for the Blues over three seasons, appearing 14 times. He was also the star attraction in the battling Northland NPC side. The hallmark of his game is an ability to sniff out tries from seemingly impossible situations.
