Flying Fijians newbie Tevita Ratuva least expected his name to be included in the final team for the Rugby World Cup.

It has been a special year for 24-year-old Tevita Ratuva who broke into Flying Fijians side this year.

“First of all I am really excited to be named in the squad for the World Cup, I was not expecting it cause all the five locks were there and 3 experienced locks were in the team all fighting for a spot so I am really excited and really working hard towards the World Cup.”

On the other hand, the battle for position of props is intense leading up to the World Cup as only 5 will be selected out of the 6 that are currently in camp says Coach John Mckee.

“We have kept 6 props in the group training through you know for a number of reasons. There’s a rationale behind that its certainly our plan is to take 5 props to the Rugby World cup which will give us a final number of 31.”

Mckee says playing Tonga next weekend is crucial but remains wary of injuries..

“You can’t just do it all on the training field, and this match next week is very important for us its part of our preparation towards the Australian game. Yes we know its going to be a physical game and we will certainly be up for it and we will match their physicality but the important thing for us is to be able to impose our game I think we have been working on a lot of things in training which in the PNC we didn’t quite bring to the fall.”

The Flying Fijians meet Tonga in a Pacifika Challenge match next Saturday before they take on Australia in their first Rugby World Cup match on the 22nd of next month.