TUWAI Jerry

General
BOOT RITUAL
He wears a special inscription on his boots in recognition of his parents, who bought him his first pair of boots when he began playing rugby. "When my mother handed the boots over to me she said, 'This is your life, this is your knife and your fork'. Since then I had those words inscribed on each boot as a reminder of where I came from. I did not know my mother was saving money for my rugby boots. I couldn't believe it because I knew they weren't earning a lot of money. When I feel tired I remind myself of my parents and how hard they work. Because of their sacrifice I am where I am today." (rugbypass.com, 15 Mar 2020)

EARLY DAYS
He grew up in a small village in Fiji and did not have access to proper facilities early in his rugby career. His father Poasa used to borrow money for transport to get him to the airport, and Jerry was forced to sleep on the streets on Nadi, Fiji, on occasion because he could not afford transport home. His parents had no electricity in their home so neighbours would use an extension cord to provide a television for them to watch him play early in his career. "In my village, instead of a ball we would play with a coconut or a water bottle, or tie up a T-shirt and use that. These challenges are normal to us, and being able to improvise has maybe made us better players. I dropped out of school to play rugby. But I didn't play rugby at high school because it was one of the few not to have a rugby team. I played volleyball instead and just a bit of rugby at home." (stuff.co.nz, 17 Mar 2020; bbc.co.uk, 04 Aug 2015)

He was part of the Fijian team that won the first Olympic men's rugby sevens gold medal when the sport was introduced at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. The team also became the first Fijian athletes to win a medal of any kind at the Olympic Games. (theguardian.com, 11 Aug 2016; world.rugby, 11 Aug 2016; SportsDeskOnline, 30 Apr 2020)