I’d love to play for Tonga with my brother Charlie
Daniel Gallan talks to Bristol Bears star Siale Piutau about passion and punch-ups
There are few professions where a punch-up between workers from two different companies culminates in after-hour beers and inside jokes. Siale Piutau is glad he’s carved a career in one of them.
“That’s the beauty of rugby,” the 35-year-old Bristol Bears centre tells The Rugby Paper. “We put our bodies on the line and we care about what we do. It was great to see my teammates jump in to my defence but it was also great to see the Worcester boys get stuck in to defend their man.
“After the game it’s all over and we move on. We’ve since had a drink and a laugh about it.”
The incident in question would have resulted in court hearings and possible criminal charges had it occurred on the high street. Instead, for throwing and landing several punches each, Piutau and Worcester Warriors’ Andrew Kitchener received three-game bans for an after-whistle brawl in a Premiership clash on September 4.
“I’ve learned my lesson,” Piutau says with a slight chuckle. “You can’t throw closed fists. You’ve got to keep your palms open. But it’s rugby. It’s a bruising sport. It’s part of what makes it special.”
With 43 Test caps for Tonga, including 12 in three World Cup appearances, and a senior rugby journey spanning 14 years, one might assume that Piutau was always destined for a life as a professional rugby player.
“I was a late bloomer actually,” he explains. “I was working as a sales rep for Vodafone trying to convince people that video calling technology would be the next big thing. It was a tough sell back then. Now it’s everywhere.”
Piutau was born in Auckland to Tongan parents. Rugby was in his blood. He’d played it throughout school. But unlike some of his mates, and his brother and Bears teammate Charles, right, who played agegroup representative rugby in New Zealand, the older Piutau considered earning a living with ball in hand only as an adult.
“I was 21 when I decided to take it seriously,” he says. “Even back then kids were effectively professional at 15 or 16. If you’re playing in New Zealand and have talent you’re automatically on the All Black radar. You’re taken care of from a young age.
I’ve come by a different path.”
This in part explains why Piutau plays for the country of his parents’ birth and not his own. Competition for places in New Zealand is obviously much tougher than in Tonga. The younger Piutau, with 17 Test caps for the All Blacks, was the joint-top try scorer in New Zealand’s victorious U20 World Championship campaign in 2011.
That two brothers represent two different nations is interesting enough on a superficial level. “It’s the one thing everyone wants to talk about,” Piutau says when the subject is inevitably raised. “Our parents can’t decide who they support. One week mum will wear a Tonga shirt and dad will be in black. Then the next week they swap round. They’re proud of us both. It would be great if Charlie could wear the red for Tonga one day.”
That he can’t under World Rugby’s current laws is a bone of contention. Unlike in Rugby League, where a player’s nationality is not set in stone, Union players must stick with the country for which they made their debut.
This would not be controversial if Rugby Union existed in an egalitarian ecosystem. It does not. A great chasm exists between the haves and the havenots. Tonga, like its Pacific Island cousins Fiji and Samoa, is very much ensconced in the latter category.
“The eligibility rule that bars tier one players from representing tier two nations later in their career is the one thing I’d love to change about this sport,” says Piutau who is full of praise for the hard-hitting documentary from former Samoa lock Daniel Leo, Oceans Apart: Greed, Betrayal and Pacific Island Rugby.
“It’s the modern capitalist world. The islands give so much but get very little back. World Rugby sees what’s going on but do nothing. We hope for more opportunities but there is only so much the players can do.”
Piutau expresses the kinship he feels with all players who hail from the Pacific Islands. This was a telling factor behind his decision to join Bristol – then a Championship side – in January 2017 after just 12 appearances for Wasps.
The previous summer Pat Lam had been appointed director of rugby. The man who represented both Samoa and New Zealand when rules were more lenient set about creating a Pacific Island style atmosphere on the banks of the River Avon.
Two Samoans, one Tongan and two Kiwis, including current Bears captain Steven Luatua were among the first signings who helped secure promotion to the Premiership.
The following season three more Kiwis and two more Samoans were added as the club consolidated their position in the top flight with a ninth place finish.
Last season seven players from Oceania helped Bristol beat Toulon 32-19 to lift the European Challenge Cup which complimented a third place finish in the league. This season, Lam can call upon ten players from the region.
“It feels like a home away from home,” Piutau says. “We often talk of a brotherhood in rugby and I feel that for all the boys in our group. But there is something extra special about looking around the changing room and knowing that there are a few guys who understand where I come from, who can relate to me on a cultural level. We’re conscious not to stick to ourselves though. We’re a family. The Irish and English boys too. There’s lots of banter and it can often run along national lines. It’s a great mix.”
Piutau’s tone lifts an octave when our conversation moves to New Zealand great Tana Umaga. The pair shared a uniform in 2010 when the then 37-year-old Umaga spent a year with Counties Manukau in the Mitre 10 Cup.
“He was a hero of mine growing up,” Piutau says. “He was one of us, you know. He’d made it and had become this giant of the game. When he arrived, even at that age, he was ahead of the game. He had the best skinfolds of any one in the group. He taught me so much about what it meant to be a professional. I picked his brain constantly and I acted like a sponge around him. I studied the way he prepped for games and would ask him questions about lines he’d run or how he’d line up in defence. I’ve shaped my career in part from the way he carried himself.”
Now in the autumn of his career, Piutau is paying it forward. He consciously imparts whatever wisdom he can to Bristol’s young centres.
“I try and add value,” he says. “Two of the young boys stand out. Harry Ascherl in the academy reminds me of Tana with his build and the way he hits the line. Then there’s Piers O’Conor. He’s already made the step up but I’m very impressed with him off the field. He conducts himself in a manner that tells me he’s going to go far in the game.”
Now in Europe’s elite competition, and with two wins from their first three league games, Piutau is motivated to extend his career a little longer.
“I’ve still got enough in the tank to be a part of this project,” he says. “Now that we’ve won a big trophy we want to build on that. We look at Saracens and Exeter and Leinster and we want to create our own dynasty.”
“It’s the modern capitalist world. The islands give so much but get very little back”