Caucau has taken both Sevens and Super 12 rugby by storm

Depending on who you ask, a Fijian looks set to take the pace crown at the World Cup and his name hardly rolls off the tongue - Rupeni Caucaunibuca.

The 23-year-old, who prefers to be known as Caucau (pronounced thow-thow), was one of the stars of this season's Super 12 competition, running rings around opposition defences as the Auckland Blues stormed to victory.

Among those enamoured by his ability is former Fijian team-mate Simon Raiwalui, who hailed the wing as a "pocket battleship".

Raiwalui told this website: "Caucau is obviously the star to come for Fiji. If he gets enough ball, he will light up the World Cup.

"He showed that he was one of the, if not the, oustanding individual talents of the Super 12. He's electric and one of the quickest players on a field.

"He can do anything. He can run through people and has amazing skills. He even scores when people kick through on a wet surface and he easily picks it up one-handed to touch down."

He has said to me personally he definitely wants to play for the All Blacks Auckland coach Peter Sloane on Caucau

Remarkably, Caucau only made his debut for his country in the one-off Test against Argentina in August. Unsurprisingly for his team-mates, he immediately got his name on the score sheet.

And in the World Cup to date he has made his name for both good and bad reasons.

His score against France should remain a contender for try of the tournament right the way through the next five weeks but his Cup debut will be remembered more for his punch on France's Olivier Magne.

Long before that, though, it was his try-scoring ability which stole the headlines. In two warm-up games to the 2002 Super 12 campaign - against New South Wales and Queensland - he ran in a total of eight tries.

Previously he had taken the world of sevens by storm, scoring 37 tries in just three World Cup Sevens tournaments in 2001.

But Caucau's route to the World Cup has been a long and fractious one.

According to leading New Zealand rugby authorities, he had been set to don the All Black jersey for the tournament.

Auckland Blues coach Peter Sloane revealed: "He has said to me personally he definitely wants to play for the All Blacks."

However, that bid was scuppered as Caucau had already represented Fji at Sevens at the Commonwealth Games and the player later denied any interest in wanting to represent New Zealand.

CAUCAUNIBUCA FACTFILE DOB: 5/6/80 Position: Wing Super 12 side: Auckland Blues Test debut: 18/8/03 v Argentina

Among those to have come face-to-face with his abilities on the field is Australian wing Wendell Sailor.

Sailor said: "I've seen blokes like Chris Walker, Darren Lockyer and Steve Renouf who are no slouch with the ball in hand but this bloke has absolutely genuine speed and he knows how to find the line from anywhere on the field."

The only real question is whether Caucau can get the required ball from the Fijian forwards at the World Cup to show off his awesome acceleration and spectacular ability to score from anywhere.

But for all his attributes he still has plenty to learn, according to Sloane, who believes he needs to learn the lesson of hard work.

Sloane said: "He's an exciting player but with quite a way to go as far as the work ethic goes. He's not a Doug Howlett."

He may not be Howlett but it was Howlett who was forced to step aside in the Super 12 competition to make way for Caucau on the wing.

Others look set to follow suit when coming up against himin future.