WHEN Viliame Mata suffered injuries after injuries which could have hindered his performance in preparing for the Rio Olympics, family support was one that got him going.
His wife, Wati said the injuries would at times almost made him give up, especially when they happened just before the Wellington and Sydney 7s and later during the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
“We continued to tell him that his efforts wouldn’t go unnoticed and the Almighty would give him what he deserves,” Wati, originally of Rotuma with maternal links to Vanua Levu, said.
At the Fiji Hideaway Resort and Spa celebrations on Thursday night on the achievements of the players, Wati reminisced on how she would stay home alone with their two-year-old daughter when Mata would go for national duties.
Mata was a rugby league player when the couple met. He wasn’t much into rugby union, but when his family heard that an Englishman was coming to coach the Fiji 7s team, they encouraged him to make the switch.
“He got a call from his uncle in Nadroga, Napolioni Nalaga’s dad, Kavekini Nalaga to try rugby union and play for the Gaunavou club in Nadroga. His uncle told him if he knew league wasn’t going anywhere, then he should try rugby union. That got him to change.”
Wati said it wasn’t long when coach Ben Ryan included her man into the Fiji 7s extended squad.
“We would talk as he would ask me to release him to go and play and I would because I always felt that if it would improve his rugby, then it would pay off.”
When her husband finally made the Rio team, which he revealed to her earlier after he was notified by Ryan, Wati could not be more grateful.
“I told him no one else deserves the credit, but the Almighty because He allowed it to happen.”
Today as Wati and their two-year old daughter, Viniana prepare to farewell their dad for his contract in Scotland, she knows it will need more sacrifice which she said she was willing to take.
“The feeling becomes lonesome at times, but it needs patience and for me, I always want to let him go and know that we’re all right because it took a lot of sacrifice to see him achieve what he has.”
Mata was one of the seven players that the Hideaway Resort acknowledged with cash bonuses.
