RUGBY commentators and pundits have labelled the 22-year-old wing the most exciting player in the world, and news media have used the most colourful terms in an effort to best describe the former canecutter turned Olympic gold medallist.
But to Lusia Vodo Ratulevu, “hulk” Josua Tuisova Ratulevu will always be “my little boy.”
Ratulevu broke down and wept immediately after the Olympic rugby sevens final.
It is because nobody knows the struggles and sacrifices of Tuisova’s journey from the cane fields of Ba to the Olympic Games gold medal better than her.
“We’ve been through a lot and people don’t know how hard he had to work to get this far,” she said.
“Through it all he always put God first and he never forgot where he came from.”
The Ratulevu family is waiting in earnest for the national sevens side’s return home.
They can’t wait to give Tuisova a homecoming like no other and his parents are also looking forward to their first aeroplane ride and first ever trip overseas.
The RC Toulonnais winger is taking his mum and dad for a three-month holiday to France.
They said they were so proud, it was hard to translate the feeling into words.
Apart from fulfilling a promise made to his parents ? Sikeli and Luisa Ratulevu ? to bring back the gold medal from Rio, the hulking 22-year-old also stamped his authority in the oval-ball sport by being named in the Olympic Games rugby sevens dream team.
“He has done so much for his family, his community and for his country by helping Fiji bring home the gold medal,” said the rugby star’s uncle, Aborosio Nateba.
“Last month he also gave his mum and dad a big present, a brand new house we watched the finals in.”
About a dozen people gathered at Tuisova’s new family home in Vutuni, Ba, to watch the final.
It is a brand new abode and a far cry from the humble tin shack in nearby Votua, where the rugger grew up.
Among those glued to the television were his parents, elder brother Pio Tuwai’s two daughters and cousins.
“Everybody is saying all these beautiful things about Josua but for us and especially for me, he will always be my little boy, I am just so proud of him and the team,” shared Ratulevu.
Tuisova played a pivotal role in Fiji’s first ever gold medal win at the sport’s introduction at the Olympic Games in Rio.
Together with skipper Osea Kolinisau, Jerry Tuwai, Jasa Veremalua, Leone Nakarawa, Vatemo Ravouvou, and Viliame Mata, he helped Fiji race in seven tries to beat Great Britain 43-7 and collect the country’s first-ever Olympic title yesterday morning.