This is not a joke.
It mostly looks like a really nice move on the transfer market.
The Vannes club, currently 12th in the Pro D2 championship, announced in the morning that it had recruited New Zealand pillar John Afoa for next season.
Last week, the Breton club had already announced the commitment until 2024 of Alapati Leiua, a 33-year-old Samoan international three-quarter who had been playing for the English club Bristol since 2017.
✍️ [Official: 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩]
The world champion pillar, 𝙅𝙤𝙝𝙣 𝘼𝙛𝙤𝙖 is committed to @RugbyClubVannes.
🗣️ "I look forward to bringing all my experience to my teammates and thus helping the RCV achieve its objectives."
Our release 👉https://t.co/NsIlwRddGP pic.twitter.com/oDfgDSfxO9
— RUGBY CLUB VANNES (@RugbyClubVannes) May 2, 2022
If he is not as well known as Richie McCaw or Sonny Bill Williams, John Afoa is, like his prestigious compatriots, part of the All Black team which won the World Cup on home soil in 2011. A success in expense of the XV of France and obtained after a bitter and closed final (8-7).
He has 36 caps for the All Blacks, including two at this World Cup.
He was also world under-21 champion with the Blacks.
38-year-old John Afoa had been playing in Bristol since 2018, having worn the tunics of Auckland, Ulster and Gloucester.
In 2020, he lifted the European Challenge Cup after a final won against Toulon (19-32).
In the club press release, the player is delighted to start this new adventure.
“I've always wanted to come and live in France, to learn and discover this culture,” he says.
I can't wait to start this new chapter of my career.
I can't wait to face all these young players in the Pro D2 championship and bring all my experience to my teammates”.
Second in the Pro D2 regular season last year, Vannes was beaten at the last second by Biarritz in the semi-finals.
This year, the team occupies a disappointing 12th place in the standings and remains on 6 defeats in a row before its last home game of the season on Friday.
The leaders seem determined to do everything to regain the top of the rankings.