Salesi Rayasi's leap of faith with Auckland rugby should pay off

Salesi Rayasi smiles sadly when he thinks of how he was ready to play rugby to pursue his other passion for basketball. Somewhere, a Super Rugby coach is also shining this fateful decision.

Rayasi is about to land his first Super Rugby contract after a decisive season in the Miter 10 Cup on the wing with Auckland. How could he not do it, given the work that the sporty sensation of 22 years, 1.90 m and 105 kg put together during a campaign with the Alama team? Ieremia continuing with the Premier League semifinal against Wellington at Eden Park (5:15 pm).

Rayasi, in his first season in Auckland, finally kept the promise that has always been present in his genetically blessed makeup (part of Fijian and part of Samoan). He alluded to the fact that it would fit in the age classes, but it is only this year, first with the Sevens National Team, winner of the World Cup , and more recently with the new Ieremia team in Auckland, that he really demonstrated his true abilities.

"I've found many benefits," he says about his dramatic move from Wellington to Auckland. "It's also a real improvement in my self-confidence, I guess I'm not so bad at rugby and new aspirations are coming.

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"I enjoy my football and it seems a little easier because of the hard work – I call it fun.The whole process of being in this environment has helped me to grow as a person and as a rugby player, two years ago, I would not have thought that I would be in this situation. "

Two years ago, he was determined to obtain a scholarship in American basketball, a sport that he practiced alongside rugby while pursuing his high school education at St Pat's Silverstream. Wellington. With his size and athleticism, it is easy to imagine him diving to the edge to finish a quick break or standing over a defender to shoot a shot in the air.

A move south after high school to start his rugby career in Canterbury did not yield the desired results, and Rayasi returned to the capital with a bit of disappointment, having connected with Tall Black Dion Prewster as a mentor training. to find out if he could hone his basketball skills enough to go for a ride in an American college.

But his father, Filipe Rayasi, ex-wing of Fiji and Wellington, is a persistent type and was not ready to concede defeat in his son's rugby trajectory. So they sat down and had a conversation that persuaded Salesi to give him one last shot.

"Dad just asked me to make one last attempt," recalls Salesi. "He probably saw that I did not have the best chance to express myself in Christchurch and Wellington, he understood my passion for basketball and thought I could apply it to He felt that I had not yet had that experience to make a real decision. "

He now, and this Lakers love tragedy, realizes that rugby is his calling, and that a career path is almost magically opened.

It's been that kind of season with Auckland. Rayasi's statistics testify to his spectacular success on the wing with the best qualifier of the Premiership. His nine tries are tied for second and he is also in the top 10 in meters (667), broken without fail (19) and defenders beaten (37).

In other words, it does the job that a world-class wing should do.

"He was almost lost to basketball and he did not know if he was a player at seven or XV," said Ieremia. "He has had a lot of support in Auckland, like the Fijian community, and he has made each position a winner, but he still has a long way to go, there are parts of his game on which he can work on. "

Rayasi believes that the former Auckland star, Waisake Sotutu, has taken him under his wing as a mentor – "He has helped me so much and has contributed much to my growth as that player "- and said that the successful introduction of training in Auckland had brought the best in all players.

"They put pressure on the senior players and the young players to work together for a common goal, and I think we all joined in that and it starts to be felt on the ground."

That's why Rayasi says that it's important that they do not go into their proverbial shells simply because we're at the end of the roller and continue to play the expressive, high-indexing mark of d & rsquo; Octane that pushed them so far.

"It's one of our strengths, as well as our defense, and we do not want to change anything that takes us right here." We got stronger and stronger and I think we're humming at good time."

As for future contracts, Rayasi is as relaxed as a young man can be. He feels like he has done the field work, integrated with the culture established by Ieremia in Auckland, and that he must now wait for the results.

He is also adamant that his hoops were not in vain. "A big part of the game now is that you have to compete in the air.I think it's something that I naturally have from my basketball."

One could say that Salesi Rayasi made a leap of faith by coming to Auckland. He is now ready to make the ultimate career jump.

– Things