Former All Blacks coach Sir Steve Hansen ‘hopes’ to see Mark Nawaqanitawase put on a Wallabies shirt once again but admits that his Japan commitments make Fiji potentially a more sensible choice.

The 26-year-old has returned to the 15-a-side code after a two-year stint in rugby league with the Sydney Roosters.

Nawaqanitawase has taken up a contract with Japanese team the Saitama Wild Knights but is weighing up his Test options.

Despite earning 11 caps for Australia, he will have completed a three-year stand-down period ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup and would also be eligible for Italy and Fiji.

He is therefore deciding on his next move, and Hansen pondered whether the Pacific Islanders would be his best bet.

No limit on overseas-based players

The wing could still feature for the Wallabies given that they scrapped the ‘Giteau Law’, which limited the number of overseas players the coach could pick, but the previous head coach Joe Schmidt was open in his desire to reward those who were based in Australia.

Les Kiss has taken a slightly different view, admitting that he will be more accepting of those based abroad, which is a boost to Nawaqanitawase, but it is still not a guarantee that he will get selected.

“I hope he plays for Australia but he’s within his rights to play for whoever he likes and whoever he wants, and it’s about sitting down with him and getting an understanding quickly what’s his priorities,” Hansen said on the Rugby Unity podcast.

“If he’s prioritising playing for the Knights up in Japan then it’s irrelevant, he probably won’t be available too much for Australia anyway, so he would be better off playing for Fiji.”

There has been criticism of Nawaqanitawase and his agent over the revelation that the speedster is keeping his Test options open, but Hansen leapt to the defence of the ex-rugby league star.

Mark Nawaqanitawase, a straight shooter

“I know his manager, his manager is not a game player, he’s a pretty straight shooter and I think Marky Mark is a pretty straight shooter too in the conversations I’ve had with him,” the ex-All Blacks star added.

“I’ve met him a few times now and I’ve always found him to be a straight-up guy, so he’s obviously just deliberating about it.

“It’s probably similar to some of the Tongan and Samoan boys who are playing league and switch codes, and go, ‘do I represent another part of my family?’ Sometimes that can be quite a strong influence on some of these people.

“All Australia can do, and I’m sure they’re doing it, is have conversations with him and then let the guy make his own decision.

“He does need to make it reasonably quickly I guess.”

Host David Pembroke stated that he was one of those who was disappointed in Nawaqanitawase’s approach and stance since returning to union, but Hansen had a different take.

“To be fair to him around that, he probably doesn’t realise how excited people are to see him back in the game. He’s a very humble young man so he’s probably thinking, ‘what’s the big deal?’” he added.

“But we’re all excited because of what we’ve seen him do in the last few years in rugby league, he’s scored some fantastic tries and he’s matured as a player and an athlete.

“We’re probably more excited than he realises.”