Inga the Winger ‘set the standard’

Powerful tribute for the great Va’aiga Tuigamala made at his funeral by former All Blacks coach, headmaster and friend Sir Graham Henry.

Sir Graham Henry led a powerful tribute to the great Va’aiga Tuigamala at the Kelson Boys High School auditorium yesterday by acknowledging the lessons he learned from an extraordinary young man, who was so much more than just a force of nature on the rugby field.

Tuigamala, All Black

No 900, and the man known affectionately by all as ‘Inga the Winger’, died suddenly in Auckland on February 24 at the age of 52. He was laid to rest at a funeral service at his old school yesterday that lasted three hours and 45 minutes. It took that long for just a selection of the people touched by this God-fearing, go-getting, gentle giant of a man to pay their tributes and wipe away their tears.

With attendance in the hall limited to 100 because of Covid health regulations, but hundreds more outside the auditorium in dedicated areas, and thousands more watching on via a livestream, Tuigamala was farewelled for the final time in a service honouring his Samoan family roots, his deep connection to his wife’s Tongan community, and also his upbringing as a New Zealander.

His wife Daphne, their three sons Jordan, Savaise (Bubba) and Vaisilika, and daughter Salote all spoke movingly of a husband and father with an infectious smile, a caring nature and a wise disposition, a man driven deeply by his religion and his love for his family, and who had found both peace and success in his last years as he worked through some serious health challenges.

His brother Afioga Tamapa’a, who spoke on behalf of Tuigamala’s mother, who has been shaken by the loss of two of her children in recent weeks, remembered him as an ‘‘ugly baby’’ and a ‘‘mummy’s boy’’ with a big afro he likened to boxing promoter Don King’s.

He spoke of their early years in Invercargill (the family moved from Samoa to New Zealand in 1974, when Inga was four) when he would often leave his school socks outside on freezing mornings, and resort to heating them in the oven.

But it was as a sportsman that Inga was most remembered, and that theme ran through the tributes that flowed for him throughout the service.

Following a groundbreaking schoolboy rugby career, he played 19 tests for the All Blacks from 1989 to 1993, including the 1991 World Cup, and was a central figure in the dominant Auckland sides of the late-1980s and early 1990s.

He then changed codes to carve out an outstanding, titlewinning career in rugby league for Wigan, and finally returned to rugby for Wasps and Newcastle in England, and also for his beloved Manu Samoa, for who he played 23 tests and was a big part of their success at the 1999 World Cup.

Former All Blacks coach Henry was Tuigamala’s headmaster and rugby mentor at Kelston Boys High and he spoke of a ‘‘great mate’’ with who he had come to forge a close bond.

‘‘Not often do you have good mates when you are the headmaster and they are the students,’’ said Henry who recalled Tuigamala and close friend Apollo Perelini knocking on his door, about 30 metres away from where he was speaking. ‘‘They used to say, ‘Sir, can I talk to you about rugby’. I loved talking about rugby to Va’aiga and Apollo – they were fantastic men in this school, and didn’t realise how important they were.

‘‘They taught me more than I could have hoped to have taught them. I had taught at Christchurch Boys High and Auckland Grammar — there weren’t a lot of Polynesian students at those schools. They told me about Pacific Islands culture and why it was important. I’d ask what this school needed to do to bring the best out of those students, and they said to provide things they were interested in – music, arts, cultural groups and sport – and then they will do better in the classroom.’’

Henry recalled Tuigamala, with Perelini alongside, setting a standard for rugby at the school that would set the foundation for great things to come.

‘‘Inga was our first All Black — he gave other people belief you could do it. The next 10 years there was another 10 All Blacks from this school, we won the Auckland championship seven out of 10, won NZ championships, and this man set the standard.’’

Long-time friends and teammates Perelini, Afi Leuila, Sir Michael Jones and Eroni Clarke all paid tribute.

‘‘He was fearless . . . he made me walk with him through the cemetery at midnight,’’ related Perelini. ‘‘This kid wanted me to walk with him to go see his dad.

‘‘He was compassionate, he cared for and loved everybody. We shared everything, always laughing, never sad.’’

Jones remembered a man always about ‘‘the challenge’’, who he had come to think of as an ‘‘evangelist’’.

‘‘Everything was about Daphne and his children, his community, his family.’’

‘‘He was compassionate, he cared for and loved everybody.’’ Apollo Perelini