BEHIND her is a banner with her son pictured running, ball in hand.
At the bottom of the banner his name, written in bold red reads Samisoni Viriviri.
Clearly a central piece in the house, Vikaili Rabale could not conceal her smile at the mention of her son’s name, what she terms as her pride and joy.
Poised on the sofa at her home in Dratabu Village, she recalls her journey, her son’s journey and the struggles both of them have been through.
“Everyone knows I was a single mother, I raised him up and we went through a very, very hard time and he knows it. When he first got into the Fiji team and when he was chosen as the then IRB player of the year he looked back at his life and he saw the hardship that he went through, he brought himself down, humbled himself after comparing his life then to now,” she said.
Rabale had been working the evening shift at the Sheraton Resort the day of the naming of the final 7s squad to Rio and she said while nervous for her son, she was confident he would make the cut.
“I was at work and I kept looking at the time. I was still working and my boss came to me before nine and he told me that my son is in. I was just screaming at work because I was so happy but I was confident that he was going to get picked,” she said.
She added that while Viriviri enjoyed playing rugby, his childhood had been difficult and that it was through the challenges that he became the person he is today.
“He started his rugby career here. In primary school he was playing with the guys here (Dratabu), took part in athletics and he went to Suva Methodist. He was schooling there and he came back and went to Nadi College.
“He wasn’t that good as he is now.
“Education wise he wasn’t good. I think he said rugby was his main talent so he just dedicated his time to training. He used to train a lot, he used to run up one of the hills and run alone. 10am was his usual running time. When he came back from training he said he needed to go to the gym and he said he wanted $2 every day to go to the gym and sometimes I would tell him no, I don’t have to give you $2 every day to go to the gym because I don’t have that much money to support you and he used to steal $2 from my purse just to go for gym. Looking back at that time, he was a dedicated person,” she said.
Rabale said while success changed people, she was glad her son remembered his upbringing and always sharing what he believed he owed to his family.
“He provided this house for us. He had spent only four months in France and he said we need to build a house because we were living with his grandmother and we needed a place. He had seven siblings. There are eight of them altogether and we were going through a hard time and the kids couldn’t get what they wanted as kids but now they have everything. Anything they want from him, these kids have it. He treats everyone the same. He may have money but he shares it to everyone around him because he knows he didn’t get that when he was young,” she said.
At 19, Viriviri made the Dratabu team in the Nadi Rugby Union Club Games. He has been part of local tier one teams like Lomaiviti, Suva and Nadroga.
In the 7s code, Viriviri played for the Police side before catching the attention of Fiji 7s assistant coach Etuate Waqa.
The now 28-year-old had made his 7s debut for Fiji in the 2012 Gold Coast 7s. He had finished the 2012-2013 season with 29 tries. For the 2013-2014 season Viriviri ended the season with 52 tries earning him the IRB Sevens Player of the Year award.
Viriviri was the first Fijian playing for the country to win the award.
Rabale said while winning the IRB Player of the Year award served as a joyous moment in her life, nothing equalled her joy when Viriviri was named in the Olympic 7s squad.
“I am proud, I have never been so proud in my life. I was so proud when he got the IRB Player of the Year. I thought that was it but to be chosen to go to the Olympics, that was a different feeling altogether, I cried. He was down in his training and when he came back he had put on about 7-8 kilos and he had to cut down on that to make the team and he just did that which makes me much more prouder and he has always been telling me that Ben (Ryan) is the best coach and that he has never worked with any coach as good as Ben Ryan,” she said.
