LIKE most of our beloved citizens and rugby fan, I woke up early Monday morning (October 12) to watch live the Rugby World Cup match between Ireland and France.
It was indeed a thriller. One of the highlights of the match happened 72 minutes into the game. Before I recall what happened in that time span, may I share a couple of insights.
The first insight is this. There are three important words that are character modules and which are worth assimilating and to live by.
The words are authentic, quick and decisive. Authentic basically means true to one’s own personality, spirit or character.
Quick means responding with speed in a relatively brief period of time. Decisive means producing a definite result.
The second insight is this. In rugby football, a try is scored when a player touches the ball down inside the opposition’s in-goal area between the tryline and dead ball line. The in-goal area includes the goal line itself (but not the side or back lines) and the goal posts (even if the part of the post that is touched is not over the goal line).
Now, what actually happened in the 72 minutes of the Ireland/France match on that morning.
Conor Murray, the Irish player, ran with the ball in hand and dived forward near the right goal post but was stopped short from the goal line by a couple of desperate French players. Murray instantly spotted the base of the goal post. With personal authenticity, quick action and decisive thinking; neatly pressed and placed the ball against the goal post. Try!
Instantly after Murray’s try, I recalled the same highlight in our match Fiji vs Argentina B on Saturday, October 18, 1980 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was a very tough game and I recalled one phase of it when we were attacking the Pumas’ goal line. Like the match that morning between Ireland and France, a maul developed very close to the Pumas’ tryline near the right goal post. My naita Vilikesa Vatuwaliwali had the ball and he suddenly stood up and tried to push himself over to the tryline but was held momentarily by the Pumas.
To all our surprise, naita Vili with the ball clasped in his right hand fingers, stretched his right arm and pressed the ball onto the goal post. Try!
After the match, the late Peceli Kina said to naita Vili: “Naita, au sega tu ni kila ni rawa ni da sikoa me vaka ko cakava (Naita, I did not know that one can score a try like you did).”
Naita Vili quietly responded (of course naita Vili is a quiet gentleman): “Naita, meda vuli ga vakalevu (Naita, let us educate ourselves more).”
May I conclude with these words of praise and honour to our brothers, members of the Fiji Rugby World Cup 2015. On behalf of us and the rest of the members of the Fiji team that toured Argentina in 1980, and everyone who had represented Fiji in rugby, we want to say to you, you have been worthy ambassadors of Fiji rugby and our beloved nation of the Fiji Islands to the world of rugby. You may not realise the joy and excitement that you have saturated into the hearts of people who watched your performance.
Yes, the points on the board do matter but for rugby lovers, the incredible acts and physical performances of players on the rugby fields bring joy unspeakable to them.
Finally, for all of us who have represented Fiji in rugby, I am certain that after every game we play, we feel the same excitement as the famous Scots sprinter Eric Liddell who said: “I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast (skilful in rugby). And when I run (play rugby), I feel His pleasure.”
