Racing 92 center Joey Manu said that he would love to play for New Zealand at next year’s Rugby World Cup as the former rugby league star prepares for the Paris derby in the French Top 14 tomorrow.
Manu has impressed during his first season at Racing after originally moving from Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) to the 15-a-side game with a stint in Japan in the 2024-2025 season.
However, fulfilling that World Cup dream would likely require the 29-year-old two-time NRL champion to leave Racing and join a side at home.
Photo: AFP
“Obviously, to play for New Zealand, you’ve got to be in New Zealand,” Manu told reporters in his first interview since arriving in France last summer. “I’m over here at the moment. I’ll say I’d love to, but just see if it all works out. I know how much good talent there is in those teams.”
“I’d love to do that [play at the World Cup], but I just want to focus on this Top 14 season and keep improving,” he said.
“I feel like I’ve come a long way from when I first started in Japan, but I know I’ve got a long way to go,” the former Sydney Rooster added.
Manu, who was born in New Zealand’s Waikato region, was a dominant force in the NRL, helping Roosters win the title in 2018 and 2019. He was named the league’s best center four years ago. Former Roosters teammate and now Wallabies poster boy Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i has also made the switch of codes in recent years, as have former league players Angus Crichton and Zac Lomax this season.
“I think union’s a lot more tactical, with obviously the kicking, the scrums and all the line-out stuff,” Manu said. “Sometimes it gets a bit chaotic with the phase play.”
“Sometimes it can be unpredictable, so I enjoy that side of the game,” the former New Zealand rugby league international said.
Manu has played 16 times for Racing this campaign in the leafy western Parisian suburbs. During his days off he makes video blogs about his time in the French capital trying some local delicacies.
“The baguettes are nice, I enjoy that, bakeries and stuff,” Manu said. “There are so many things to do in Paris and I feel very lucky to live here. Whenever we get time off, I just try to get into the city and check out different shops, try different foods. Me and my family really enjoy it here so far, so it’s been good.”
Manu’s transition across sports in a new country, speaking a different language, has been helped by the presence of former All Blacks winger Joe Rokocoko, who is Racing’s assistant coach.
“When I was growing up in New Zealand, he was the man,” Manu said of Rokocoko. “A lot of New Zealand kids would have looked up to him, like myself. You’ve got a lot of respect for him because he’s been at the pinnacle of the game and he’s done some big things in rugby. He’s been an awesome coach. He’s got that detail in him with what he wants to get across to the boys, but he’s also got that fire too.”
This weekend, Manu is set to face another compatriot in Stade Francais’ former All Blacks scrumhalf Tawera Kerr-Barlow. The 2015 Rugby World Cup winner, now 35, has inspired his side to third place in the Top 14 table, nine points ahead of Manu’s outfit, with six rounds of the regular season left and the hunt for the play-offs hotting up.
“It’ll be nice to play against another Kiwi boy and see how he’s going,” Manu said. “I know he’s just good at his craft, he does his job well. I haven’t watched too much of him over here, but I’m pretty sure he’s still a great player.”
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