Family close to Tevaga’s heart
The same streets Jazz Tevaga walked in his youth were broadcast to the world on Friday. It is something the Warriors utility won’t soon forget.
As he worked towards his side’s opening round NRL clash against the Bulldogs, 49 people were murdered in mosques in his home town of Christchurch. While the news rocked the country and world, for 23-yearold Tevaga, the horror unfolding hit close to home.
“I was pretty emotional hearing the news,” Tevaga said. “I’ve got a lot of family down there, so my heart was very heavy [on Friday] and [yesterday] waking up to the news.
“I just really didn’t want to believe something like that could happen in New Zealand.”
On hearing the news, Tevaga immediately phoned to check on relatives. They were all right but were apart as his nieces and nephews were unable to leave their schools due to the lockdown.
It led to a sombre evening for Tevaga and his teammates the night before their first match of the season. Coming together around dinner time, winger David Fusitu’a led the squad in a prayer to acknowledge the moment. Robbie Farah and Benji Marshall turned back the clock to spark Wests Tigers to a 20-6 win over Manly at Leichhardt Oval in Michael Maguire’s first game in charge of the club.
Farah, playing just his second match at the iconic ground since his “farewell” appearance in 2016, scored two tries in a dominant second-half Tigers performance.
Marshall laid on the other try for former Sea Eagles lower-grader Luke
The uncomfortable feeling followed the team into game day, and with the news of the Highlanders’ Super Rugby match against the Crusaders in Dunedin being called off, Tevaga wondered if their game at Mt Smart Stadium would follow suit.
Instead, the Warriors gave away free tickets to the match, held a moment of silence to honour the victims of the massacre, and put on a clinical display of league to dismantle the Bulldogs 40-6.
The Warriors were a dominant force from the first whistle. Their forward pack outmuscled the Bulldogs, while the backline made the most of their opportunities within striking distance of the tryline.
“We came together and we had a lot to play for. We just wanted to get the win and try to install some positivity back into New Zealand.
“We’re all feeling heavy, so it’s good to put some smiles on some faces.”
It wasn’t just the home side who wanted to give New Zealand something to take their minds off the murders. Canterbury’s Kiwi half Kieran Foran said the 24 hours leading into the match had been full-on, with a number of Kiwi players in the Bulldogs squad.
“It’s had an effect on, I think, every person in the world,” he said. Garner and was a calming influence on his team after a tryless first half. ● In last night’s NRL late game, Jason Taumalolo ran for 300m for the first time in his career as North Queensland saw off St George-Illawarra 24-12.
The Dragons got the game’s first and last tries but the Cowboys scored five in between, as the experience of Michael Morgan and Matt Scott also proved decisive for the hosts in Townsville.