Alama's dream

Sport

Alama's dream is still alive

By Atama Raganiuatu

Despite his inability to establish himself in New Zealand’s test team, Samoan rugby player Alama leremia still has no regrets over discarding Manu Samoa in 1994 and seeking glory with the All Blacks.

Unlike numerous compatriots who have also switched loyalties, leremia is very much a product of New Zealand’s rugby development system.

Yet, this did not make the decision to turn his back on Samoa any easier. “The hardest thing was to tell my dad,” he recol lects. “I was in tears for several hours after informing him and I needed a week to get over it.” Lale leremia’s objections were more than patriotic considerations. He had seen his son play on relatively few occa sions and believed the Manu Samoa cap taincy, which Alama seemed destined for, to be the limit of his feasible aspirations.

The old proverb regarding a bird in the hand was, more than once, uttered.

Regardless of Lale’s own love for rugby (he had been a high profile loose forward in local club fare before coaching at col lege level), Alama displayed little interest in the sport when a schoolboy.

In New Zealand, he spent four of those early years. Lale enrolled at Christchurch’s Canterbury University in 1977 and the rest of his immediate family accompanied him to “The Garden City”. Alama was ten when his father graduated and the leremias returned to Western Samoa. Apart from watching his father run coaching sessions, and the odd match at Samoa College, where he was a pupil, an occasional impromptu match of touch rugby amongst friends was young Alama’s association

with rugby in Samoa. Rugby certainly

occupied no place amongst his thoughts when leremia leamt he had won a Western Samoa government sponsored scholarship

to study at Victoria University in Wellington. His plans then (late 1989) were simple. He intended to earn a Masters

degree in geography before

gaining a post in either resource management or town planning. He was at Victoria for a full year until newly found university friends per suaded him to try rugby as a

leisure activity. To say that leremia took to rugby as a duck to water would be to exag gerate the natural instincts of a duck.

In his initial season of serious rugby, he broke into the Wellington province’s under 21 selection. March 1992 saw leremia make his debut for the capital’s senior side, facing the Gold Coast at Surfers’ Paradise during a pre season Australian tour, and, merely a few months later, the Western Samoan selectors recruited him for interna tional duty. He donned Manu Samoa colours for the first time when Tonga visit ed his home town, Apia. leremia’s strong running and ferocious tackling quickly cemented him an automatic spot in the Manu Samoa line-up. He starred in the team’s surprise, but fully merited, triumph at the 1993 Hong Kong Sevens tournament and, appointed vice captain, as Western Samoa toured New Zealand, in the same year.

It was no secret that Western Samoan rugby officials were grooming their articu late and intelligent second five eighths to succeed the legendary Peter Fatialofa as Manu Samoa Captain. “Fats” had started his 35th year when the New Zealand expe dition finished with a creditable 13-35 loss to the All Blacks in Auckland and leremia was then the likeliest candidate to skipper the Samoans at the 1995 World Cup. leremia’s aims, at that stage, did not extend beyond the World Cup.

Undoubtedly, he had no thoughts of mak ing himself available to New Zealand before then, until world rugby’s adminis trative body, the International rugby Board, decreed that players would be ineligible to appear in test matches for three years should they decide to switch national alle giance subsequent to 1994.

It was Junior Tonu’u, his best friend and a team-mate with both Wellington and Western Samoa, who sowed the seeds for leremia’s change of heart by declaring him self available for the All Blacks. leremia

says: “It was an extremely difficult deci sion. There was enormous pressure as I realised I was being prepared to assume the Western Samoan captaincy. If it wasn’t for the three year stand-down rule, I would have remained with Manu Samoa.” Albeit initially annoyed at being interrupted in mid-sermon, to learn his son had gained one of rugby’s most revered distinctions delighted Lale. As well, he acknowledged, the vindication of Alama’s preference for the All Blacks.

His all Black career began inauspicious ly. During the first attacking move he fea tured in, leremia tried to catch a pass intended for a colleague and the ball struck him in the face! Things did improve and leremia has, unless injured, featured in every ensuing New Zealand squad. In spite of this, he failed to make an All Black berth his by right. While Pat Lam smoothly assumed the role of Western Samoa captain at the 1995 World Cup, leremia represent ed New Zealand just once during the tour nament and, after being the All Black selec tors’ preferred second five eighths for all of 1997’s previous tests, the Samoan found himself dropped against England for the year’s final encounter.

Nevertheless, most pundits believe that leremia will be on the international scene well into the next decade and the likeliest scenario is that he will eventually replace Frank Bunce (now 36) as the All Blacks’ centre. This suits leremia better than sec ond five eighths because it does not require long passes there anywhere near as often and long passes are his single obvious weakness.

Although not making the impact he would have wished since joining the All Blacks, leremia certainly benefited finan cially from his defection from Manu Samoa. His contract with the New Zealand Rugby Football Union is substantial enough to enable him to be a full time pro fessional rugby player. He curtailed his uni versity studies immediately after gaining a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Unless a serious injury or prolonged form loss curtails his All Black career, leremia should have no cash worries when he eventually retires.

Sadly, Manu Samoa is unable to offer its stars the same assurances. Until that changes, the majority of promising young Samoan players will prefer to chase All Black honours. ■