Hacjivah Dayimani

Hacjivah Dayimani was timed at 10.6 seconds for 100 metres as a teenager. Coaches have suggested for years that he should move to wing or centre. He has never wanted to.

Flanker or No 8 at Racing 92, 1.90m and 105kg, and 28 years old.

The background is unlike anyone else’s in the squad. He was born in Cape Town to a Nigerian-descended Igbo Jewish father and a Xhosa mother who is a sangoma, and considers himself Jewish. He grew up in severe poverty, first in a settlement outside Cape Town, then with his grandmother in Cradock, then with his father in Johannesburg, changing school five times. He worked on building sites, sold oranges and pumped petrol to get by.

His father objected to rugby because matches fell on Shabbat and pushed him towards boxing, so he played in secret. A scholarship to Jeppe High School followed, then two years of national schools rugby and the Golden Lions age-grade sides.

South Africa left him out of the under-20s for a lack of size and power. He made his professional debut at nineteen instead and scored a hat-trick in it, against the Namibia Welwitschias in May 2017.

Three seasons with the Lions were spent mostly as an impact replacement. The Stormers signed him in 2021 and won the United Rugby Championship in their first season in it, with him a substantial part of the run.

France took him in 2024. A Super Rugby finalist in 2018, a Currie Cup finalist in 2019, and a URC winner in 2022, now in the Top 14.