Bolakoro in top form and Nadolo and the beer truck 17 March, 2011

Nadolo - no wider than a beer truck according to one UK correspondent.

Looking at the star performers in France in this week's Top 14, pride of place goes to Ilikena Bolakoro of Biarritz Olympic, whose two tries against Racing Metro of Paris included a solo effort that "left for dead" four of the opposition, amongst others, Jone Qovu and Sireli Bobo.

Biarritz Olympic trainer John Issac was thrilled with Bolakoro’s performance.

"Perhaps his best match since his arrival here in 2007," Issac said.

"This was his first start since the beginning of January and I think he was 'hungry'".

If he keeps up this sort of form Bolakoro could add to his current solitary Test Cap for the Flying Fijians.

In the French Pro 2 Sevenaia Rokobaro, playing at no. 8 for Aix en Provence, helped ease his team away from the relegation zone, with a try and a generally outstanding game.

Try scorers elsewhere included:

- Caucau, a 'typical virtuoso perfromance' for Toulouse; 

- Daunivucu, again, at Grenoble; 

- and Malakai Bakaniceva (Colomiers) aided by Vereniki Goneva, which saw Lyon go down to their second succesive away defeat.

However according to the French rugby journal Midi Olympique (who select a try each week from all the pro games) the ' try of the week' was scored by Saimoni Vaka of Agen.

Meanwhile Messrs Waisale Suka, Vinaya Waka and Mosese Ratuvou of LOU will be joined by another fellow islander next season; Alipatie Fatafehi being set to arrive from St. Etienne, also of Pro 2.

Finally in France, Goneva will be crossing the English Channel to play at Saracens next season.

No matches of note last weekend in the U.K. apart from the 6 Nations games.

The previous weekend (05/06 March) saw Nemani Nadolo make his full debut at home for Exeter, helping the Chiefs to a 30-9 win, and assisting Sireli Naqelevuki in a try (watch Sireli Naqelevuki’s try).

Watching the game Paul Rees of the Guardian.co.uk had this to say of the giant Nadolo: 

“on the visiting 10m line, its arrival would coincide with that of Nadolo who, as Raymond Chandler would have said, was a big man, but no more than 6ft 5in tall and no wider than a beer truck. It was a contest that was only going to have one winner but it was not so much that Nadolo claimed the ball in his bucket-sized hands but that he had the presence of mind not to try to rampage through the last line of defence, Bruce Reihana, and instead fed an unmarked compatriot outside him, Sireli Naqelevuki. Exeter were in dreamland.” 

Moce mada. 

Marc @ rugbymarc.