Sunwolves' Vosayaco relishing Sydney homecoming

Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 11:36 PM
Beth Newman
by Beth Newman
After upsetting the Crusaders in round six, the Waratahs will be looking for a repeat effort against the Sunwolves. Coach Daryl Gibson has rested Wallabies Jack Dempsay, Bernard Foley and Adam Ashley Cooper seeing Mack Mason slot into the No.10.

He’s Brandon Paenga-Amosa’s brother-in-law and has played Australian representative rugby with Jed Holloway and Ned Hanigan but Sunwolves backrower Rahboni Vosayaco has found his groove in Japanese rugby.

The former Endeavour High student played Shute Shield out of school before signing with the Sunwolves ahead of the 2017 season and he hasn’t looked back since.

A Super Rugby opportunity this year came up late in the piece, with Vosayaco called back into the main Sunwolves squad, when Sean McMahon’s deal fell over because of a foot injury.

He has more than proved himself in the opening rounds, with some bruising displays for the Japanese side in a pack that has bested many an opposition.

After playing some club rugby with Sydney’s Southern Districts, Vosayaco was given a chance to play in Japan and he couldn’t say no.

“I think it was just the opportunity really,” he said.

“In Australia, it's pretty hard to get a gig sometimes in union, obviously we've got league and AFL which are more dominant but it was just the opportunity for me to play some professional football and I just took that opportunity and went with it.”

The 23-year-old boarded at The Southport School, where he first started playing rugby, before moving back to Sydney and finishing his schooling with Endeavour Sports High in Sydney’s west.

Reds hooker Paenga-Amosa, was a quasi coach for the school’s rugby side, who only played a handful of games through the season and the pair remained friends, and eventually became family.


They had their first Super Rugby match up only a fortnight ago when the Reds came to Tokyo and Paenga-Amosa helped engineer a Queensland comeback, with two second-half tries.

“We’ve always been tight and he was pretty much our coach (in high school),” Vosayaco said.

“We talk pretty much every week - we played them not long ago, the Reds, he came on and scored two tries against us which was unfortunate.

“He was bragging about scoring two-metre tries, which is just a hooker thing.”

This tour is a rare chance for Vosayaco to stay in Sydney with the Sunwolves, who will stay in Sydney for their two-week Australian tour, travelling down to Melbourne late in the week before taking on the Rebels.

With news of the Sunwolves’ Super Rugby axing after 2020 it could be one of his last trips to Sydney with the side but the future of the team and his own is not preoccupying him.

Rahoboni Vosayaco in action for the Sunwolves. Photo: Getty ImagesVosayaco is signed in the Top League next season and said he hadn’t thought much beyond that when it came to where he would play his rugby.

“I've always been a person that lives in the present so it's like I'm just going to play each game like it's my last anyway so I just live in what we've got now,” he said.

“When the time comes, I'll worry about that but at the moment my focus is just on the Tahs.”

Whatever happens down the track, the flanker says he will likely find his way back to Shute Shield club Southern Districts, a team he still considers his.

“Apart from Super Rugby, the next best crowd would definitely be club rugby. Being with the Rebels for so long, it's unreal,” he said.

“I will always hold them close to my heart and I can imagine even if I retire, I'll probably try and get a couple of games at Souths for sure.

“I try and see the guys as much as I can but then again I'm not spending too much time at home, between Super Rugby and Top League but when I come down I'm just trying to make time for sure.”

The Waratahs host the Sunwolves on Friday night at McDonald Jones Stadium, kicking off at 7:45pm AEDT, LIVE on FOX SPORTS and via RUGBY.com.au RADIO. Buy tickets here.

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