The Hurricanes look set to pounce on one of the Mitre 10 Cup's brightest stars for the 2019 Super Rugby season.
The Herald understands the club is very interested in bringing Auckland winger Salesi Rayasi back home to Wellington.
However, as much as they might want the young star in their system, the club were thought to only be offering Rayasi a spot in their wider squad, which means another team could swoop in on the young speedster and offer him a full contract by the time squads are announced on Wednesday.
It would be quite the turnaround for the 22-year-old, who briefly gave up on rugby to pursue basketball in 2016. He regained his love of the sport not long after when selected in a Samoan under-20s squad, before going on to forge a name for himself for New Zealand in the sevens squad.
And after one match for Wellington at the NPC level in 2016, he was snapped up by Auckland, and this year has had a breakout campaign. Scoring nine tries in 11 matches to help the side to their first NPC final since 2015, Rayasi has played a key role for the high flying side. He's among the top three highest try scores this season, having a major impact on what was the second best offensive side in the regular season.
Tomorrow evening, the Auckland side will face a familiar foe at Eden Park, with Canterbury in town on the hunt for their fourth straight premiership title. The two sides met in the 2015 final, where Canterbury claimed a 25-23 win.
