Packed church farewells Lauaki
IN a room full of warmth, love and loss, Sione Lauaki’s powerful presence was celebrated and mourned in equal measures yesterday.
Church United in Te Atatu, West Auckland, hosted Lauaki’s public funeral; a service that featured touching songs from the Tongan church choir, and elsewhere hit all the right notes.
Tributes flowed from the stage where Lauaki was proudly pictured in his All Blacks jersey, and a Tongan flag behind him, to the hundreds who gathered in the packed two-storey church.
His wife, Stephanie, spoke beautifully and bravely of her ‘‘selfless’’ husband.
‘‘The way that he loved is something I see in our children,’’ she said. ‘‘They love openly, hard, strong. I’m really blessed that I can look at my sons and see the love of their father every day.
‘‘I never understood until this week why my sons do everything that their father does. They’re little gangsters. He didn’t have to do anything and they would do what he did. Now I understand it was because he wasn’t going to be around to teach them to be like him. They have it in their heart already and I’m so thankful.’’
Lauaki made his All Blacks debut against Fiji in 2005. He played 17 tests over a four year period, finishing in France when illness cut short his career.
All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster fondly recalled Lauaki’s smile and mischievous nature. When Lauaki was caught doing something his child-like giggle didn’t seem appropriate coming from such a big frame.
‘‘He did make mistakes. Not every decision Sione made was a great one but the mark of the man, and it came through his faith and family, is he would always put his hand up and say he stuffed up. He would always ask for forgiveness and go forward. To me that was one of his greatest strengths.’’
The eldest of Lauaki’s nine siblings, Paenga Kovi, said her brother never forgot his humble upbringing after moving from Tonga to New Zealand as a sevenyear-old in 1988. He was generous, and brought out the best in his siblings.
‘‘His battle with his medical condition showed how much he endured. He tolerated the pain, and made sure that he doesn’t appear to be affected just to ensure we would not worry about him.’’
Lauaki was laid to rest at Waikumete Cemetery, near his old college, Kelston Boys’ High. LAWRENCE SMITH / FAIRFAXNZ