By David Williams
Wales centre Willis Halaholo has found himself at the centre of yet another nationality storm.
Halaholo, who helped Wayne Pivac’s side win the 2021 Six Nations, qualified for Wales on residency after three years with Cardiff Blues.
When he was first selected by his adopted country in November 2019, the Auckland-born centre was targeted for criticism on social media from bigots who believed a Welsh-born player should have been picked instead – even though he had fulfilled all the requirements.
Now, Halaholo has been targeted again after a post on Welsh Premiership club Pontypridd’s site lamented the fact their former player Garyn Smith had not been picked regularly at Cardiff.
In their article referring to Smith, the Pontypridd website read: “His career in regional rugby has been blighted somewhat by the preference of the Welsh regional sides to recruit players from far away places with even stranger sounding names – the players, that is, not the places!”
The article was almost instantly removed but was a not-so-subtle dig at Halaholo and Rey Lee-Lo, who both arrived in Wales from overseas and are Cardiff’s preferred midfield pairing.
Smith often starts as a replacement behind Halaholo and Lee-Lo.
Cardiff are aware of Pontypridd’s removed story which showed how much work rugby still has to do to combat elements of racism and bigotry.
What it also failed to acknowledge was the fact Smith, who is still only 25, already has more than 100 Cardiff appearances to his name.
He helped his home region win the European Challenge Cup in 2018.
Smith scored a try in that Bilbao final and also won the late penalty which allowed then Cardiff full-back Gareth Anscombe to strike the match-winning three points.
Halaholo, 30, joined the Blues in 2016 and he gained his Wales chance after recovering from a serious knee injury.
He recently signed a long term contract extension with the Blues, further cementing his commitment to his adopted country and said at the time, “With Dai Young coming in as director of rugby and such an exciting and developing squad, it was a simple decision for me to make.
“It was a long road back from my knee injury, but I feel I am rediscovering my previous form and there is definitely more to come.”
Young added: “Everyone knows Willis’ ability as a player – he carries hard, has electric feet and is a quality defender.
“He is the kind of player that gives the opposition headaches as you don’t know what he is going to do.
“It was great to see him called up by Wales and I was very impressed with his performance in Scotland, where he made a big impression and displayed real maturity and leadership.”