Kumamoto (Japan) (AFP)

Passed away during the preparation game lost in Scotland (17-14), winger Alivereti Raka is offered a new chance with the XV of France, opposed Wednesday in the United States for his second World Cup match.

"We are waiting for him to express his potential." The sentence is written in red on the student's newsletter Raka. A "must do better" coach Jacques Brunel who necessarily refers to the sad copy made by the Clermont in Edinburgh in August.

Penalized three times, Raka had also committed two forwards without being able to make the difference in attack. The promises of Nice, where the original Fijian had scored an entry test for his first selection at the Blues, already against Scotland (32-3) a week earlier, had flown.

Like the hope of joining the match against Argentina for the first major meeting of the French in Japan (23-21). But since his Scottish run, Raka, 24, has made progress in the classroom, says Professor Brunel. "He showed us great things for two to three weeks of training and we feel he came back very well physically."

For "the Raka bomb", unstoppable at its debut in Top 14 in 2016 - 8 tries in 9 games - has experienced two ultimate seasons spoiled by injuries and has struggled to find his best level on his return in the spring. The opposing defenses know it from now on and redouble their vigilance.

- "Let him move a little more" -

But Raka, naturalized French end 2018 in the hope of applying for the selection, is always "able to break any defense, to create gaps and thus create situations to unbalance the opponent," said Brunel. Who gave a specific assignment to the person to find the path of in-goal: out of his wing.

"We would like him to move a bit more, go somewhere else, he starts to do it in training, to be available, it can be an interesting weapon, we hope he will be at his advantage on Wednesday", said Brunel.

The appreciation was already the same during the preparation: early August in Oliva, Spain, Brunel had already stressed the "tendency to stay in his area" of the newcomer to the Blues.

Fabien Galthié, coach in charge of the offensive animation and future coach, had instilled new lessons in defense. "He's asking me to go up in front and leave behind, it's new," Raka explained. Its ability to retain them depends on its immediate future in Japan.

© 2019 AFP