World Cup bolter Issak Fines-Leleiwasa was twice fortified that he’d one day be a Wallaby, once when he left the Western Force and again when he returned.
Coach Tim Sampson is one of the devout Fines-Leleiwasa supporters who always believed his day in gold would come.
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It matters little that many in the broader rugby community didn’t even know how to pronounce the back-up halfback’s name properly when the biggest bolter in Eddie Jones’ squad was named on Thursday night.
Sampson may now be assistant coach of the Melbourne Rebels but it doesn’t preclude him from a burst of pride after helping Leleiwasa start his journey as a professional rugby player in Perth while Force coach in 2018.
Leleiwasa, 27, was a livewire attacking halfback even then when he joined the Force for the short-lived Global Rapid Rugby competition.
“This is absolutely well deserved for Issak. He got the game minutes for the Force this season to show what he’s capable of,” Sampson enthused.
“I twice had chats with Issak where I said he’d one day wear the green and gold. Once, was when he left Perth for a few seasons at the Brumbies and again when he returned to the Force for 2022.
“He’s got a point of difference that we probably haven’t seen in Australian halfbacks for a while with his speed around the base to be a constant running threat and the strength he has.”
Ian Prior has shared halfback duties with the Australian-Fijian product for his two stints at the Force.
“Issak is the sort of story that rugby should be celebrating with the perseverance he’s shown to get to this moment,” Prior said.
“He’s an exciting player, the type where fans in the stands stand up every time he’s around the ball."
He hasn’t always been a whirl of dreadlocks scooting from the ruckbase.
“I actually picked up Issak in my car from the airport when he landed in Perth in 2018 when he had short, back and sides and was heading to his first Airbnb,” Prior said.
“He’s been dedicated to his craft ever since. He’s always had that running game but he’s worked hard on when to go as well as his pass and kick.
“He’s a halfback but he can cover wing. With four halfbacks training at the Force, Issak filled in on the wing only recently at a session. I put through a box kick and he chased to turn it into a try. He could be a Francois Hougaard type (who played halfback and wing for the Springboks) if injury requires it.”
Fines-Leleiwasa was a junior with the Port Douglas Reef Raiders in Queensland’s far north before being spotted for a scholarship that took him to The Southport School on the Gold Coast.
The school that has produced Wallabies like Nathan Sharpe, Rob Simmons, World Cup squad-mate James Slipper and Mat Rogers polished his raw skills.
He won selection for the Australian Schoolboys and Junior Wallabies but still no professional club was interested when he was wowing followers of Sunnybank in Brisbane’s club competition in 2016.
He got himself to Canberra to trial but was knocked back.
Sampson’s connection with Sunnybank, as a former coach, put him on the astute coach’s radar.
“He was a player I always wanted to get my hands on to coach and he really showed the start of more to come in the Global Rapid Rugby seasons,” Sampson said.
Fines-Leleiwasa won the Nathan Sharpe Medal as the Force’s standout player in 2019 during that time.
His lively cameo off the bench for Australia A against Tonga in July pushed his case with Jones. It was still a leap by the Wallabies coach to prefer him to the slick-passing Ryan Lonergan, who also had top goalkicking credentials from his strong season for the ACT Brumbies.
In 2016, when Fines-Leleiwasa was interviewed his words were prophetic.
“Be patient,” he said.
He has and the Wallabies will have a good back-up with a bright future in their squad for France.
