Every rugby player has a turning point that ignited and fuelled their love for the oval ball and for former Flying Fijians centre Sale Sorovaki it was watching the 1997 national side tame the British Lions in Suva.
Sorovaki was only eight-years-old at the time, a class three student of Lomaivuna Primary School who journeyed with his family from Naitasiri to Suva to witness Fiji’s historic win.
The sight of his rugby heroes in the likes of the legendary Pio Bosco, Qele Ratu and Senitiki Nasave sparked a light in a young boy who was amongst the crowd of around 20,000 people who packed Suva’s Buckhurst Park to witness the match.
“Qele Ratu was someone that I really admired when he played for Rewa and Fiji. Later on, he moved to Australia to represent the Wallabies, but I just wanted to be like them as a young Fijian boy growing up,” Sorovaki said.
The passion, love for rugby was always there and added to this was the actual talent to play the sport. Sorovaki possessed all three of this.
He put this to good use while playing and studying in New Zealand. Like a game of dart, his performance on a regular afternoon in 1994, hit the bull’s eye as the then Flying Fijians coach Brad Johnstone fixed his sight on the lanky Kadavu man.
“I was playing for Wellington; we went up to play North Harbour and this was way back in 1994. I was marking Lawrence Little who was the brother of the All Black Walter Little. At the after match, our coach Brad Johnstone, I didn’t know who he was at the time, he asked if I could play for Fiji and I said yes.
“In 1995, I came over and then we trialled, I got selected, I was very happy, very excited,” Sorovaki added.
The year 1995 saw Sorovaki don the national white jumper for the first time, playing at home in front of his family against Canada in Nadi.
“It’s always an honour I mean, being the first time and all my family drove down from Suva to come and watch me play in Nadi and I had to fly b ack the following Sunday, back to Wellington.
“I scored a try on that Test so that was icing on the cake for me.”
The white jersey was soon wrapped by the many fond memories, one of which was when he had to shoulder the responsibility of captain.
“I captained Fiji for the first time against Scotland in 1998 which was three years down the line. To represent your country was an honour but to be chosen as captain, I think it’s a different feeling altogether. You sort of feel the weight of your families, friends, team and your nation on your shoulders,” he shared.
That light that sparked when he was eight continue to burn to this day as he serves as the Fiji Rugby Union general manager Operations and Development.
This path was something he knew he wanted to take as a way of giving back to the FRU which played a huge part in his playing career.
