Queensland Red’s young playmaker Duncan Paia’aua is the latest Southern Hemisphere name to confirm they will be leaving for European shores come the conclusion of the 2019 season according to reports from
Paia’aua who is only 23 was on Wallabies coach Michael Chieka’s radar having featured in the Australia v Barbarians fixture last year where he managed to get across the try line (video below) Disappointing he hasn’t featured in squads since with Foley, Toomua, Beale & Hodge have all pulled on the 10
Australia rugby will be sad to lose such an exciting prospect at such a young age. New Zealand born Duncan represented Australian u20 at the IRB Championships but then had a brief spell in Rugby League with the Brisbane Broncos before making a return to Union in 2014 where he lined up with the Queensland Red’s where he has been playing his rugby since.
Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal described Paia’aua as having a “Matt Giteau” profile about him. The Top 14 outfit has struggled to find a playmaking 12 since Giteau’s departure and while the comparisons might seem a little far fetched it’s a shrewd bit of business from Toulon who have nabbed a skilled playmaking 10 or 12 at a very young age.
Toulon are having a tough season following the loss of a lot of big names over the last couple of seasons have recruited well ahead of the 2019 season with Eben Eztebeth and Nehe Milner-Skudder set to arrive post RWC2019.
