Southland side’s ‘big’ threat is no gentle giant
Viliami Tosi loves running with the ball and at 120kg-plus it is a daunting sight for opposition defences.
The No 8 has been a key figure in helping the Southland under-19 team progress to the Michael Jones Trophy final at the national tournament in Taupo this week.
Tosi will also need to be a key figure for Southland if they are to topple defending champions Counties Manukau in tomorrow’s final in the second tier grade of the 16-team tournament.
The 19-year-old confesses eyes light up when he gets hands on the ball.
However, he also knows he can be an even bigger threat if he picks and chooses his moments and tries to set up other players with an offload.
‘‘I’m trying to not hog the ball too much. Because when we play it shows I suck in a lot of defenders, so even if I could get off that little extra pass.
‘‘I can work on that just to get that extra metre for us on attack.’’
Originally from Levin, Tosi was offered a scholarship by Rotorua Boys’ High School to head north for his year 11 year at school.
He spent three years in the school’s first XV which included helping them win the Chiefs regional secondary schools competition in 2015. his his
Last season they were toppled by Hamilton Boys’ High School in the semifinals.
During his school days, he also captured the interest of national rugby league talent scouts and played for both the New Zealand secondary schools and under-16 teams against New South Wales.
For now, it is with rugby union where he is trying to make his mark and it is in Southland where he is trying to do so.
Tosi linked with the Marist club this year after shifting south from Rotorua and helped them to a Galbraith Shield title.
He has eyed the under-19 tournament for a while as an opportunity to put his best foot forward at a national level.
‘‘The plan was always to come up here fizzing and try to make the [New Zealand] under-20s team.
‘‘It is the goal I want to achieve this year. It will come down to how I perform on Saturday and how I have performed in the last two games,’’ he said.
For Tosi, the big area for him to work on is increasing his work rate and general involvement in games, to go with his obvious explosive abilities.
That increased work rate will be important if Southland are able to topple a big Counties team in the final at 3.20pm in Taupo tomorrow.
Southland have beaten Taranaki and the Heartland XV to make the decider.
‘‘It’s like when we played Taranaki. We knew they were going to be big, we knew they were going to be physical, and we knew they all were going to carry all day.
‘‘I expect the same thing from Counties. I’ve already said to the boys, ‘let’s grind them out’.
‘‘They might be big but we can work around that, we’ve got a lot of speed and agility in our team.’’
Tosi will be back in Southland playing club rugby next year with the hope he can push for a spot in the Stags setup.