Fiji-born former Wallaby Isi Naisarani has signed with the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua ahead of the 2027 Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific season.
The Fijian Drua says Naisarani brings his experience and physicality to the Drua as he returns home to Fiji.
They say the signing also marks a significant homecoming for the former Ratu Kadavulevu School student, who left Fiji as a young player chasing an opportunity abroad and now returns to play professional rugby in front of family, friends and the Drua Nation.
Originally from Naqali, Naitasiri and sharing maternal links to Gusuisavu in Naitasiri, the powerful back-rower brings a wealth of Super Rugby and international experience to the Drua, having represented the Western Force, the Western Force, ACT Brumbies and Melbourne Rebels during an impressive career in Australia before also taking his talents to Japan.
Naisarani says he is really excited to be joining the Fijian Drua team for the 2027 season.
Naisarani initially made his mark playing club rugby for Souths in Brisbane before earning selection for Brisbane City in Australia’s National Rugby Championship in 2016.
His breakthrough campaign saw him play seven matches and score five tries, with his powerful ball-carrying quickly attracting the attention of Super Rugby clubs.
Naisarani signed with the Western Force and made his Super Rugby debut against the Waratahs in Sydney in 2017.
He enjoyed an outstanding rookie campaign, playing 15 matches and becoming the first player to win the Nathan Sharpe Medal as the Force’s Player of the Year in his first professional season.
He registered 126 carries for 662 metres, 22 tackle busts and 108 tackles during an impressive introduction to Super Rugby Pacific.
In 2017 he won the prestigious RUPA Medal for Excellence after he was voted the Best Australian Super Rugby player of the Year by his peers, the first player in history to win this award in their debut year.
His performances earned him a move to the ACT Brumbies for the 2018 season before he joined the Melbourne Rebels in 2019, establishing himself as one of the competition’s leading ball-carrying No. 8s.
Naisarani later returned to where his Super Rugby journey began, rejoining the Western Force during the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific season with more than 65 Super Rugby appearances to his name.
Naisarani’s rise in Australian rugby culminated in his international debut for the Wallabies against South Africa in Johannesburg in July 2019, becoming Wallaby No. 926.
He quickly established himself at No. 8 and was selected in Australia’s squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, where he started against the country of his birth, Fiji, in their opening pool match and featured in the quarterfinal against England.
His career also took him to Japan following his time with the Melbourne Rebels, adding further international club experience to a career that has taken him through some of the toughest professional rugby competitions in the world.
Swire Shipping Fijian Drua Head Coach Brad Mooar says Naisarani joining the Drua Vuvale is a very exciting moment and they can not wait to have him in camp.
