Bath Rugby hoping for Amanaki Mafi deal

Since his arrival on English shores following the 2015 rugby World Cup, Japanese international Amanaki Mafi has made a huge impact at Bath Rugby with a string of eye catching performances, instantly endearing himself to the Blue, Black and White faithful.

Playing in Somerset on a short term contract the future of Mafi is one of much speculation, and Bath Rugby coach Neal Hatley has admitted the club are in the process of putting together a deal for the number 8.

"We've been in discussions with him probably for the last three or four weeks," Hatley told Total Sport.

"It's a bit complicated, he wants to go back to Japan and play there, so we're going to look if we can do some kind of jobshare role, I suppose you could say, with him," he added.

The pre-existing deal the player currently has in his native Japan makes the situation a little more tricky than usual for Bath, as Hatley explained:

"It's a little bit complicated because of the contract he's got back there. He's a wonderful player that we would like to bring back in the very near future if it all pans out."

With Mafi showing composure and confidence in a variety of positions for Bath during his short tenure, Hatley believes the surplus of top quality backs within the club's arsenal can only serve as a positive thing.

"I suppose people look at it with Dave Denton and Leroy (Houston) and Naki (Mafi) that we've got three eights, but Leroy's been a revelation at six for us, Garvs (Matt Garvey) has been called on to play in the second row and Dave Denton can play six as well," said Hatley.

"So we're not too stressed out about the numbers in the backs. We just want people who can carry the ball back and are very efficient in the set piece, and all three of those guys tick those boxes," he added.

Speaking about the transition the Tongan born Japanese international has experienced during his time in the West Country, Hatley emphasised just how well Mafi has slotted in with his playing colleagues as well as with the Bath supporters, a both rare and valuable commodity. 

"We'd love to be able to keep him, he's been a real success. He's very popular with the boys and I think he's very popular with the fans because of what he does for the 80 minutes on the weekend. Guys like that are always going to be in demand," Hatley added.