Scrums second nature to Seumanutafa
South Surrey product and UBC freshman comes from a long line of sport’s enthusiasts
Shoshanah Seumanutafa’s name is a mouthful.
And when the University of Alberta Pandas faced her on the rugby pitch last Friday, they found out they’d bitten off more than they could chew, too.
UBC’s freshman outside centre scored three tries and was responsible for another as the Thunderbirds rallied to beat Alberta for the first time in school history, 29-19.
Seumanutafa — for the record, it’s pronounced “say-u-man-ewta-fa” — scored in the seventh and 34th minutes of Friday’s game at Ken Wood Field at UBC, putting the home side up by three before the Pandas scored two of their own to take the lead back.
But the 18-year-old from South Surrey earned a penalty try in the 67th and scored again in the 77th to provide the winning points.
“I only found out we hadn’t beaten Alberta after the game,” said the 5-foot-4 Seumanutafa, who is of Samoan descent.
“I was really proud of all of our girls. We had put in some hard work in training ... so I think it paid off.”
Not bad for a young woman who hadn’t been allowed to play rugby until a couple years ago. Her father Pose, who comes from a long lineage of rugby players, including some who represented Samoa internationally, wouldn’t allow his daughter to play the sport. He wasn’t worried about her getting hurt, he wasn’t sure if she would take it as seriously as it needed to be.
“I think he was more worried about my commitment to it, because it is a physical sport,” said Seumanutafa.
“I think he wanted to make sure I was willing to put in the work of learning the game and putting 100 per cent of my effort and focus into it. When I told him, ‘Yeah, I think I’m ready,’ he was like, ‘OK. I will help you,’ ” she said.
Daily drills and training followed and because her school — Pacific Academy in Surrey — didn’t have a rugby team, she played high school under the renowned David Kaye at Semiahmoo Secondary along with club rugby for Bayside.
She took to the sport naturally, eventually earning a spot with the U-18 provincial team as well as UBC, where she’s working toward an arts degree with an eye on science. Her original sport, soccer, took a back seat.
“I don’t think (the transition) was that hard for me. Before I even started practising or training with any other teams, my dad would take me out and show me how to tackle properly and stuff,” she said. “It didn’t seem too difficult. And growing up, I was kind of a rowdy kid, so getting (physical) wasn’t new to me. I could take it.”
The Thunderbirds will need her as they travel to Victoria to face the Vikes at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. It’s a massive test. UVic beat those same Pandas by a score of 82-0 last Sunday with 10 different players scoring tries.
“I know that they’re a very strong team and very physical as well,” said Seumanutafa. “But if we just focus on what we’ve been working on and play like we did on Friday, I think we’ll be fine. We’ll hold our own.”