Flutey happy to re-join Wasps
Riki Flutey has admitted that he is extremely happy to re-join Wasps after moving away from the club only a year earlier.
Flutey signed for Brive on a two-year contract last summer. However, things did not work out at the French club and Flutey only made nine appearances for the team through the duration of last season.
There had been a little bit of bad feeling among the fans of Wasps who thought letting him go was a bad move in the first place. Flutey can now settle down and focus on having a big impact on the Premiership this season.
It's clear that Flutey did not settle during his time at Brive so a move back to Wasps will have a large number of positives. However, some have suggested that his failure at Brive proves that he cannot cope with the pace of the best rugby in the world.
Benefits of moving back
There are many positives for the player coming back to Wasps. He has only been away for a single season and not a lot at the club will have changed during this time. It will make his transition back to Wasps' club life easier.
He already knows the club and this is an asset. He will still feel the disappointment from last season and will want to hit the ground running. It should not take him much time at all to show that he is at the right fitness levels and ready for a start in a Premiership game.
Personally he will be much happier and this will move into his rugby. Happy players are productive players and Flutey will be able to enjoy his rugby again after a frustrating year in a country where he did not fully understand the rugby.
He said: "Every time I came back for treatment it meant Sarah, my daughter Madison (3) and son Joseph (20 months) were also making the trip and that was a lot of upheaval for all of us. I was lucky to have the medical staff at Twickenham to get me fit again and I was really determined to get back – back in Brive for two weeks and then another eight weeks here and it just continued like that as I tried to get fit."
Subtle suggestions
There are subtle suggestions that Flutey's failure to make an impression in France is a sign that he is past his best and not able to cope with the pace of top-flight rugby.
France has been the best European rugby nation in the last two years and this has been translated through French domestic sides. French sides move the ball much faster than anywhere else in Europe and it could just be the case that Flutey couldn't handle it as well as not being fit.
He added: "The way I look at the injuries is that it happened at the right time because it could have come along leading into the Lions tour or in the build-up to next year's World Cup. Now, I'm really confident going into this new season with Wasps and luckily I kept all my kit."
Betting advice
Flutey will be very determined to have a big season this year after he failed to make the impression on French rugby that he'd have been hoping for. He plays in two positions; fly-half and centre.
When he plays at centre, be a little more cautious in backing him to score tries and points. He will be pegged down in the middle of the park by some big teams. When he plays at fly-half he will have more freedom to express himself and should score the odd try.
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