19-year-old Meli Tuni’s dream of representing Fiji will be made a reality when he features for the Swire Shipping Fijian Warriors in the World Rugby Pacific Challenge next month.
Like many Fijian children, Tuni was obsessed with rugby from a young age, mesmerized by every performance of the national team.
Tuni says he enjoyed playing rugby in his early days until his parents banned him from playing the sport at age of 11 to focus on his studies.
He says this was devastating but he had to make sacrifices and challenge himself to make his parents proud.
After winning the Under 18 Deans competition with Ratu Kadavulevu School in 2018, he knew that he had to continue to push through his rugby journey.
The Deans title was just a beginning for Tuni, aspiring to reach higher goals, his character and values earn him a spot to represent the Vodafone Fijian Under-20 team at the World Rugby Under-20 Championship last year.
Tuni is about to take another step on his rugby career with the Warriors and is determined to work his way right to the peak, but knows that there’s a long way to go.
The Fiji Warriors will open their Pacific Challenge campaign against Samoa next Thursday at the ANZ Stadium, Suva.
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