Stars and hamstrings of old did a rousing job for the Tongan Recovery Appeal in Brisbane on Saturday when rugby’s growing Indigenous conscience was also a winner.
Amidst the fun and straining muscles, former Wallaby Digby Ioane’s two tries were a flashback to the dreadlocked highs he always gave Suncorp Stadium.
The 24-15 scoreline in favour of the Tongan Invitational XV over the Vintage Reds was almost the least important part. More than 4000 fans made the effort to get to the ground early to enjoy watching some of their favourites.
Former All Blacks winger Hosea Gear was still silky good at 37 in finishing his try and setting up another, Pat Howard was still trying a grubber kick against the flow of the game at 48, Radike Samo and his afro were still bumping off defenders, Ben Mowen could still throw a slick flick pass.
Stephen Moore will tell you his cross-kick into the arms of Mitchell was perfectly struck. He never tried that trick in 129 Tests. George Smith and Toutai Kefu, two giants of the game, had a run. James Horwill had fined down to flanker size.
“Rocket” Rod Davies still has wheels and scooted over off a clever Nick Frisby pass.
So it went on.
In the match’s lead-up, proud Tongan-Australian Steve Kefu was a strong part of the idea to unite Tongan, Samoan, Fijian and Maoriflavours in a Pacific United “Sipi Tau” or warrior challenge before the kick-off.
What almost went unsaid was a welcome to country of true meaning.
Shane Drahm, a proud Aboriginal Australian with dazzling feet for Queensland in the 1990s, stepped up.
“We added an Indigenous element. ‘Drahmie’ gave us goosebumps with his welcome to the other cultures from the traditional owners of this land,” Kefu said.
It was a poignant moment when you think Indigenous themes were invisible for the careers of most of the Aussies playing in this game.
“It was an important thing to do. All the cultures coming together for rugby had a really good feeling,” Drahm said.
The Tongan XV sang a hymn in the dressing room and then went out to bang a few bodies for fun. Just like it's always been.
Former Wallaby winger Drew Mitchell certainly felt it. He took one of the hits of the day when former Tongan winger Pila Fifita crunched him and flung him to the turf. Mitchell put a good tackle of his own on former Samoan lock Dan Leo.
Leo loved everything the match stood for in raising funds through the UNICEF Australia Tongan Recovery Appeal to aid the bounce-back from January’s devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami.
He is the chief executive of Pacific Rugby Players Welfare which has done outstanding work to champion progress for Pacific Islands players worldwide.
Of course, the match was an injury lottery. Wallabies great Chris Latham pulled out mid-week with a bad hamstring. Drahm strained his in the warm-ups. Unfortunately, former Wallaby Berrick Barnes was helped off after just 90 seconds with knee ligament damage.
The game and camaraderie went on.
“There was plenty of banter and giggles and we selected eight locks so the shifts were short in that position. It left us a bit short on backs,” former Wallabies skipper Nathan Sharpe said with a laugh.
“There were guys I hadn’t seen for 10-15 years. It’s great to spend time together again.”
Former Reds and Brumbies speedster Tim Atkinson plays only touch these days with 40-somethings. He swooped on a loose ball and ran it 60m to the tryline. Son Frank, 11, had never seen dad play before. He was rapt.
Reds coach Brad Thorn, one of those locks, was sent on for the final 10 minutes of the first half. He had a run, cleaned out at a few rucks, made a tackle or two and then put on his other cape as Reds boss.
The truth is most of the players would have been happy to start the day with the post-match festivities in the dressing room.
In the end, it was another wonderful show of rugby’s spirit to rally quickly for a great cause. Stuff the bruises and aches.
Over $70,000 has already been raised by the Queensland Rugby community for the Appeal.
Donations can be made here.
