HE was once a sugarcane cutter in Rakiraki, and when it seemed that this was what he would be doing his entire life, fate led him away from the cane fields to rugby stardom.
As Ra native Sireli Bobo recalls, his life transformed from the cane fields into the rugby field at a professional level.
Today, he is a feared and respected name in the rugby field, not only in the Fiji but also on the other side of the world where he plays.
In the 2007 Rugby World Cup, he stormed his way to the tryline against South Africa in the quarter-final, something Fijian fans cherish.
Running from halfway with the ball in one hand, the former 7s skipper and Flying Fijians hard man stormed through the defence with his speed and vision and scoring a memorable try.
Bobo has plans to retire from rugby soon but he also plans to play his last Rugby World Cup in England.
“I had some plans in 2012 and this is part of the plan, to end my rugby career most probably. I want to encourage the boys that nothing is impossible,” Bobo said.
“We have Wales, England and Australia in our pool but if we do our homework and play together as a team and follow our game plan the coach has set, then we can give them a tough game.”
Bobo, 39, had a humble beginning. Staring small in the 1990s and then started growing his rugby career. He has come a long way in the sport and is now vying for a spot in the Fiji team for the RWC 2015.
“Every rugby player wants to go to the World Cup but there are lot of things we have to do is to work hard. For me, age is catching up and I know competing with the young players will be very tough but I am looking forward to it and I love the challenge,” Bobo revealed.
“We got a pool of very good players in the team both in the forwards and the back line too. I have seen the improvement in the team during their November tour. We will improve a lot since we got good talents in the team.”
For Bobo to reach where he is today was not an easy path.
According to him, he worked day and night to achieve his dream.
“I used to cut sugar cane and dive for coral as a source of everyday survival. I never forget my beginning from where it all started and I thank God for giving me the talent,” Bobo recalled.
“Whenever I come back to Fiji I always go back to the place where it all began in the village and visit the Red Rock team.
“It is very important to always remember where all things started. I am here today is because of the community I was surrounded with whether in sports or village life.”
Early in his rugby career, Bobo.s first overseas signing was with Grupo Dramático e Sportivo Cascais, a Portuguese team. He was playing during the Nawaqavesi 7s when the late Rupeni Ravonu found a gem in him and was picked to play at the Japan 7s in 1998. He also played with the Fiji sevens side at Dubai and Durban in the IRB Sevens circuits. He then signed with Spanish club UCM Canoe, and the side went on to win the King’s Cup in the 2001 season. He first made his debut for the Fiji 7s team in 1997.
Bobo joined Wellington for the National Provincial Championship (NPC) in New Zealand where he played 13 matches and then made his debut in the Super 12 to book him five games for the Hurricanes.
In the 2005-06 Heineken Cup final against Munster, the try-scoring machine Bobo scored a try for Biarritz Olympique where they lost the final 23 points to 19.
In the final of the 2005-06 Top 14 competition, Bobo scored one try in the famous victory of Biarritz against Toulouse.
And according to the club’s website he finished as Biarritz’s top try scorer, and second in the overall competition. Bobo signed for Racing Métro in 2007 and was called up — as a reserve — to the Fiji 2007 Rugby World Cup squad, playing in the quarter-final loss to South Africa.
Bobo was recalled to play for Fiji in June 2013 for the 2013 IRB Pacific Nations Cup before agreeing to a contract with NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes, a Japanese club.
He became the oldest player ever to represent Fiji when he ran on to the field on 14 June 2014 against Tonga, he was 38 years old.
He then left Japan and joined Top 14 side Stade Rochelais in late 2014.
Bobo is known as a miracle player. For that he said he was always protected by the Almighty. He said with the Lord in his life he had always escaped serious injuries associated with rugby and thus had successfully been able to support his family.
“A lot of miracles happened in my life. Rugby is very different nowadays compared to how it was played in the 80s and 90s,” he said.
“We have to look after our body well. As the Bible says “pride comes before the fall” of a person. Be yourself and never forget your beginnings
“Once a player goes overseas for a contract, they forget where they are from. Let people lift you up and not you boasting about yourself. I thank the Almighty for his blessing over me. He has blessed me with a beautiful and loving wife. She always tells me that talent takes you to places but it’s your attitude that keeps you on top in your career.
“The most important thing to me is my relationship with my God. Proverbs chapter 16 verse three states ‘commit to the Lord all the work you do and your plans will succeed’.”
Bobo is not only a successful athlete but also a successful husband.
He is married to Taina and has two handsome sons aged 11 years and seven. Bobo even has some advice on how to have a marriage that not only works but keeps couples happy.
“My rugby career will come to an end one day but the relationship with my God and my family will never end. So when you are married then you should respect your marriage,” he said.
“I have spent more than 10 years in France, then Japan and I am still travelling. I am blessed with a wife who looks after me very well.
“I started playing sevens rugby and then joined 15s later and the game has taken me to various places.”
The international media and fans are always thrilled to see Bobo in action and at times everyone is surprised to see the 39-year-old winger still running like well tuned machine. He said the recipe behind his success was all through the power of God.
“Journalists always come and want to know what my secret is. They tell me that I am playing like a 20-year-old after scoring tries in a match,” he said.
” All I will say is the recipe behind my success is my God.
“I have never encountered any injuries until today and it is all possible with his protection, through his blood and I always ask God to look after me as a professional rugby player playing in this heavy contact sport.”
Bobo made his international debut for the Flying Fijians in 2004 against Tonga where he scored the winning try. Fiji edged Tonga 27-26.
Since then, has set his sight of donning a national jumper and entertaining the fans for the last time in RWC in England later this year, perhaps for the last time.
The sunrise of November 9, 2008 gave birth to a new Bobo. It was this day he decided to commit to God and he has been reaping the reward.
“I was heavily drunk in Paris in France. That day I came home at seven in the morning and had been drinking the previous night. From that day until today I have not drink any alcohol. I have changed my life.
“Hum log ke maango seedha chalo … nahi maango aise waise jaao.(We have to walk on the right path and not get off track) I came from a very poor family and rugby helped me to get something.
“Through rugby I have bought a house, a car, a farm and now I am planning to build another house,” Bobo said with a smile.
He is planning to establish a rugby academy in the country after the Rugby World Cup which would help develop players to pursue overseas contracts.
“I am still working with the club La Rochelle so that we reach to an agreement with the company which I will setup here, may be after the Rugby World Cup to develop players from under-15 to 18 and help them secure contracts in France,” he added.
“Another goal for me is before I retire I want to get many rugby players to France so that after retirement I could proudly say that I played for Fiji, I did my best for my country, my village and my younger brothers.
“I helped Lepani Botia to secure another three-year contract and also Kini Muririvalu.”
For his dream to play for Fiji in the RWC, Bobo pushed aside three lucrative contracts from top 14 teams in France.
Taina, his wife said she did not regret his decision not consider the contract. She said she would always stand beside her husband in whatever decision he made.
“Honestly speaking it was very hard to take but then I supported him since he was following his heart.
“He will be fighting for a place in the Rugby World Cup and I have been supporting him.
“He has also taught me a lot of lesson. He gives his full concentration in whatever work he does,” she excitedly said.
The couple have planned life after rugby and know where both would be heading towards.
“He’ll be hanging his boots in the two to three years’ time but we have got other plans. We are looking at life outside rugby.
“He has a cattle farm and I can also bake. Our two sons are schooling in Fiji now. Maybe we would go on a holiday since rugby is not forever.
” He will be 40 years old next year. What I admire about is his discipline on and off the field.
“He always tells me that it’s all in the mind as long as his body can carry him he will continue to play rugby,” she added.
