My Life in Rugby with Graham Dewes – The former Fiji prop and 2007 Rugby World Cup hero talks about his memories from the game
When I hit the last year of High School, my coach at St Peter's College, the legendary Eric Kohlhase said I wasn't tall enough to continue playing No.8 but that I'd make a really good front rower, and that set me on the path for higher honours.
I wasn't a big prop, I was probably too light, and it's funny at the World Cup just gone, Joji Rinakama, who was our Pastor, reminded me on my debut I weighed 103 kilos. When I was playing club rugby in Auckland and doing quite well, all my Fijian friends joked why don't you go back home and try and make the Fiji team and at that time, we had legends like Joeli Veitayaki, Bill Cavubati …some of the heaviest front rows in the world, big scrummaging fellas. Eventually, I got my playing weight up to 118kgs but I always had a seed of doubt that I wasn't heavy enough.
I still felt that way in 2007, the year I made my Test debut. It was only a few months before the World Cup kicked off so I was what you would call a bolter. In a way, I think it was my mobility and physicality around the field that got me selected in the first place rather than my setpiece game.
Back in New Zealand, where our family moved to from Suva in 1989, a couple of years after the military coup, I'd been playing Premier club rugby for Auckland Marist and provincially for Thames Valley in the NZ Heartland competition. But it was while playing for a New Zealand-based Fijian team at a sevens tournament in Fiji that I caught the eye of Flying Fijians coach Ilivasi Tabua.
My father passed away when I was 13, shortly after we arrived in New Zealand, so I was very emotional and proud when I made my debut against Japan in May 2007, thinking about how he had got me into rugby and encouraged me; it made me happy as a kid when I made him proud. Ilivasi Tabua in some ways was like my father, he believed in me andwhenever I donned the national jersey I never wanted to let him down.
We came back from 15-3 down at half-time to win 30-15 and I had a few good involvements in the build-up to the tries. So that probably helped and I also scored in a trial before the squad was finalised. When the RWC team was announced I was on my own in the cinema when my uncle rang me to tell me the good news, that I was off to the World Cup. It was a dream come true, I didn't think I would ever make it.
The goal for the team was to make the quarters. We were hugely motivated by a lot of negative press around us because we didn't do well in the Pacific Nations Cup, I think we only won one game. It was quite smart of the coaches with how we targeted the first two games, against Japan and Canada but we didn't start well in either, and they were both very close games but we beat Japan 35-31 and then Canada 29-16.
After losing to Australia in our next game, we needed a win against Wales in Nantes to go through. We had such belief before kick-off; our motivation to make the people of Fiji proud was the driving force behind our team's success. We trained so hard from the PNC through to the World Cup, and during it we were really tight. Half the team were professional and half, like myself, being a carpenter by trade, were semi-professional. The boys that were professional took us younger players under their wings and looked after us, anything they could do off the field to help, they did it. The Fijian team culture is centred around its faith in Christ and love for each other and the game of rugby. There was never a day that was not filled with song, fun and laughter. It was these things that helped to bond us together and achieve something special.
Our scrum wasn't strong but our lineouts were competitive, so the plan was to get the ball in and out as fast as we could and let Nicky (Little), Moji (Moses Rauluni) and Seremaia Bai run the show. I had a conversation with Nicky Little before the World Cup, we were talking about forward running lines, and I asked him if he wanted me in this position or that position and he said. ‘no, I just want you to hit rucks and make tackles'. But being quite mobile I found myself popping up at the right time to receive the ball and carry. The try I scored against Wales, that won us the game right near the end, earned me the nickname, ‘The Dragon Slayer', from Nicky. He knows how much I cringe when I hear it, so that just makes him say it even more!
I took my opportunity then but sadly I didn't back myself in the quarter-final against South Africa. For a brief moment, a space opened up next to a ruck close to South Africa's try line, but I hesitated, for fear of fans back home saying I was greedy if it didn't work out, and in that split second, Seru Rabeni, rest in peace, picked it up instead and went the other way and got tackled. On reflection, I was like, ‘oh man, I could have had two tries in two games'. They might have given me some land! That moment was significant for me because I learnt a lesson in life: to always back yourself.
That's what I did when I made the decision to join Esher following the World Cup. Ilivasi advised me not to go, he said it wasn't a good move because Esher were a Second Division club. But with their linkup with London Irish, I thought it might lead to something else. It was a huge culture shock to me, I wasn't comfortable there – I struggled for game time, and the fact we were losing every week didn't help either, so I went back to New Zealand and joined Counties Manukau.
I really enjoyed my time at Counties Manukau, Milton Haig who went on to successfully coach the Georgian national team and the legendary Tana Umaga, who needs no introduction, were our coaches. They taught me a lot about how to analyse the game of rugby. I played my last Test match for Fiji, in 2012, and I was grateful to be able to retire on my terms.
Coaching had never crossed my mind as a profession but the thought of giving something back to the game was sparked by a conversation I had with Seremaia Bai back in 2007 when I asked him what he wanted to do when he retired. We both had similar interests in creating opportunities for young rugby players and coaching, for me, seemed like a natural way to achieve this. So I got my qualifications, did some coaching at the amateur club level, and whenever I was back in Fiji, I'd give the kids there a bit of coaching. It was only when I moved to Northland in 2015 that I realised my passion for helping others through the game of rugby could also become a source of livelihood for my family.
I will be eternally grateful to Vern Cotter for giving me the opportunity to coach with the Flying Fijians on tour last November, and then to Simon Raiwalui to have faith in me and taking me to the World Cup. Myself and Seremaia both made it back, this time as coaches. To make the quarter-finals as a player was something special but to make another quarter-final again, this time as a coach, was truly a blessing.
France RWC was the best Rugby World Cup, by far, in my opinion. For us, It was a rollercoaster ride but that's Fiji rugby for you. The exciting way we approach the game is our biggest strength but also it can become a weakness. I am sure that's why the fans love us. I like to say when we play tier 2 we play like tier 2 and when we play tier one, we play like tier one. The day we find consistency in our performances is the day we will be competing for the top rankings of World Rugby.
Agents talked to me about opportunities after the World Cup, but I wanted to do the right thing and honour the remaining year of my contract with Northland Rugby Union before exploring other avenues. One day though I'd love to coach in Super Rugby or experience life in Europe again if the opportunity presents itself. As someone who cannot get enough of rugby, I love how the game is played in France the UK and Ireland. Here in NZ it is more of a sprint and I'd love to experience the challenges that the long seasons in Europe have to offer.
