The \"Princes of Fiji\" give back

Fri, Sep 22, 2017, 8:07 AM
Sam Phillips
by Sam Phillips
The Classic Wallabies have continued their good work in Fiji, passing on their experience as they helped coach a local rugby team on the country's Coral Coast.

The "Princes of Fiji" are giving back, running a clinic for local school kids in Fiji.

Mark Chisolm cheekily gave Lote Tuqiri and Radike Samo the tag, given the length of time it takes to walk down the street alongside the born and bred Fijian superstars.

"We get stopped everywhere - it makes going to get a coffee quite hard when we have a couple of photoshoots along the way," Chisolm said.

"It's fantastic to see the smiles on peoples faces when not only people like Lote and Radike walk by, but Hoilesy and Patty Phibbs as well."

Chisolm was in awe of the love for rugby in every pocket of the rugby mad country.


"It's great to get into the communities and the schools, throwing the ball around with the kids, they loved it," he said.

"The hype behind rugby is fantastic.

"Even driving in, going past all the spare fields, there are kids playing rugby barefooted - you can't get any better."

Samo said his enjoyment in making the trip was on multiple fronts.

"These guys, they love their rugby," he said.

"For someone to come in and give them some experience, they really enjoy that, they love that and hopefully they take that and go a long way in their future.


"It's a good experience for them and for us as well.

"To do it with my teammates, the ex-Wallabies, it's good for the locals, for us to come here and show them an experience they've never experienced before.

"A lot of us, since we've finished rugby, I don't think we've caught up so it's great to catch up and do this rugby clinic at the same time."

Fijian legend Waisala Serevi spoke to the importance of the trip, as well as the upcoming Classic Wallabies v Classic Fiji match.

"It motivates them," Serevi said of the village visit.

"They were brought up in Fiji, Radike and Lote, but they worked hard, they train hard, they set goals and they made it to international rugby.

"It showed them that nothing is impossible in life."

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