IN our last segment, former national rep Sairusi Naituku recalled the unforgettable moments the South Pacific Barbarians players encountered in Australia and South Africa and the names of the 20 Fijian players that were part of that remarkable tour.
Upon arriving at Sydney, John, the South African military colonel who joined the team on the plane from Nadi, told the 15 players to go their separate ways when they approach Customs for clearance at the airport.
“He didn’t want us to go with him to the same Customs desk in Sydney but he informed us he would be waiting outside the international arrivals area,” said Naituku.
“Koli Rakoroi was the first one to the immigration counter and we were worried when we saw Koli being escorted by an Australian immigration officer to a nearby room inside the airport complex.
“A few minutes later, Koli realised he wasn’t alone as we all followed our captain and were taken in as well.
“At this stage, I was really worried because deep down inside of me, I thought we would all be deported back to Fiji.
“The Australian immigration officers asked us a lot of questions because none of us had a visa to enter Australia.
“We only had airline tickets.
“They asked us the purpose of our trip to South Africa and our reply was to play rugby and we were told to provide a concrete evidence of going to Africa or we would be sent back home.”
Naituku said the players were worried that their dream to play at the Rainbow Nation would be shattered.
“We were lost and we didn’t know what to do but luckily Colonel John appeared out of the blue and told the immigration officers he was in charge of the tour.”
A huge sigh of relief reverberated throughout the team when the South African cleared the air with the Australian officials.
The team was later released and stayed in Sydney for two days while waiting for their flight to South Africa.
On the second day, the team was pleasantly surprised when 15 more Fijian players joined them at their hotel in Sydney.
“Most of these players were people we had played together with as members of the national squad against Tonga and I was overjoyed to see them joining us in camp.
The 30 players, made up of 20 Fijians, five Tongans and five Samoans were issued new uniforms, rugby boots and other rugby gear before departing for South Africa.
Everywhere the team went, media personnel followed them with questions about the tour.
During a stopover at Perth to catch their flight to South Africa, they were hounded by Australian and other international media representatives at the airport.
The reporters kept insisting on getting answers from the players about the reason for their trip but the players, who enjoyed a hearty laugh about it later, knew how to respond.
“As soon as we got off the plane, the media flooded us with different kinds of questions and instead of replying in English we all spoke in the iTaukei language.
“So when they asked us a question we just responded with ‘keitou sega ni kila na cava dou tukuna tiko’ meaning we don’t understand what you telling us.
“And many of them were scratching their heads and asking for a translator but no one stepped forward.
“We had a good laugh later when we boarded the plane to South Africa.”
And as soon as the plane departed for South Africa, Naituku and his teammates were in cloud nine knowing their dream to play in South Africa would soon become a reality.
He said it was an emotional experience when the team was greeted with pomp and ceremony upon their arrival in Johannesburg.
“As we reached the arrivals lounge we could hear cheering and shouting from thousands of people saying — Welcome to South Africa.
“One South African rugby official who greeted us at the airport said ‘brother we waited for hours here at the airport to know what kind of people are coming and we’re happy to see black people’.
“He told me they have travelled the world over trying to bring rugby players to unite the people and they were happy to see the reaction from the South African people when they saw the team at the airport.
“We were told that the main objective of the tour was to build bridges because of the system of apartheid in the country.”
The team was joined by Canadian rugby internationals in South Africa.
During the apartheid era in South Africa, the blacks and the whites had their own respective competitions and they rarely played together.
“Some officials from South African Rugby told us that when the indigenous people would see us playing against the Afrikaans, it would also encourage them to play against the white people in South Africa.”
The side played 11 games and toured every province in the politically divided country.
They battled against top provincial teams such as Natal, Eastern Province and Western Province.
“If you haven’t played in South Africa then you have not experienced the pinnacle of rugby.
“I thank God that I was blessed and fortunate enough to have reached the climax of my career by playing there.”
Despite their good intentions, all the members of the team were slapped with a six-month suspension upon their return to Fiji.
But Naituku said as far as the players were concerned, they believed that the tour had contributed to putting an end to apartheid in South Africa.
Even though they were not paid and penalised for going against the wishes of the Fiji President and FRU, the players were grateful to have fulfilled what was once an elusive rugby dream — to play in South Africa — and most importantly to have spread the gospel of unity and togetherness in the Rainbow Nation.
“The objective of the tour was to build bridges so Fijians can hold their heads up with pride and say we contributed to uniting South Africa.
“In rugby history, it is a recorded fact that a group of rugby loving boys from a tiny little dot in the Pacific toured South Africa in 1987 and brought together a divided nation and we will always cherish this moment until our last breath,” Naituku added.
The 20 Fijian players in that tour:
Koli Rakoroi (captain), Tomasi Cama, Kaiava Salusalu, Esala Teleni, Iokimi Finau, Aisake Nadolo, Belasio Vukiwai, Jo Toga, Pio Batiniu, Epineri Naituku, Viliame Lilidamu, Ilisoni Rarasea, Vilisoni Vakatalai, Asaeli Hughes, Sairusi Naituku, Ifereimi Tawake, Epeli Rakai, Severo Koroduadua, Paulo Nawalu and Bruce Naulago.
