Serevi was a showboat but also a serial winner

Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby’s most enduring photographs, and explains the story behind the iconic image

What’s happening here?

It’s April Fool’s Day 2007 and Fiji’s 38-year-old player coach Waisale Serevi is goading and taunting New Zealand in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Sevens in his last appearance as a player at the tournament he became synonymous with. Here he is scoring the winning try against the Kiwis in what was to be his swansong game.

What is the story behind the picture?

Serevi made his Hong Kong debut back in 1989 when, as a brilliant skinny youngster with electric pace and his own version of the David Campese hitch kick, he won the player of the tournament award.

He would appear in a further 15 tournaments and his final tally was seven titles, seven losing appearances in the final, two losing appearances in the semi-finals and five player of the tournament awards. In 1997 and 2005 the Hong Kong tournament expanded to double up as the World Cup Sevens and on both occasions Serevi captained his nation to success. Both wins were celebrated with a day’s national holiday back home in Fiji.

The tournament narrative invariably centred on him. Could anybody beat Serevi’s Fiji? Or could Serevi’s Fiji challenge the Kiwis with Jonah Lomu and Christian Cullen on board or a revamped England with James Simpson Daniel, Ben Gollings and Josh Lewsey at full bore. Could he still produce his magic despite advancing years?

The little magician was always the centre of attention. His attendance guaranteed full houses at the National Stadium and underwrote the tournament financially while his extraordinary talent as a sevens player – and his ability to nurture the exciting but raw talents Fiji always uncovered – made Fiji into one of the major forces in the abbreviated game.

Hong Kong was where Fiji made their presence known on the world scene, it was where they embarrassed the old IRB establishment and where we wondered, every year, at what they might achieve on the fifteens pitch given some encouragement and a level playing field.

Iconic Rugby Pictures: PART 14 Serevi taunts New Zealand at HK7s April 1, 2007

What happened next?

Fiji won this semi-final against New Zealand 21-12 to ensure a place in the final against Samoa but, alas, sporting fairytales are the exception rather than the rule and on this occasion there was no dream finish.

Serevi knew that he was struggling with a hamstring strain and in any case had probably emptied the tank against the Kiwis. That was his farewell to Hong Kong. He had a talented, young fit squad that he had been rotating all season from game to game and he decided to bench himself for the final.

It backfired badly as Samoa roared into a 27-0 half-time lead. Then after the break, just when he might have considered bringing himself on for old time’s sake, Fiji started to click and ran in four tries on the bounce. He did not want to interfere with that magic or momentum and stayed off. In the end Samoa just survived and won an epic final 27-22.

Why is the picture iconic?

This is an image of virtually the last play of Serevi’s epic career but it could have been taken in the school playground or beach back in Fiji 25 years previously. It’s carefree knockabout stuff and his cheeky unspoken message is clear: “You want the ball come and get it.” He is making as if to present it on a plate and there is even a hint that he might start spinning it Michael Jordan style.

The snapper Tertius Pickard has captured that enigmatic look on Serevi’s face, part amused smile and part intent gaze at the ball while all the time he is still clocking incoming Kiwi tacklers. I watched Serevi for nearly two decades and for all his showboating nothing distracted him from the serious business of winning.

This is the essential Serevi, he didn’t change one jot throughout his career and it was part of his make up. Take his drop-goal conversions for example which he executed with minimal exertion, drawing his kicking leg back no more than three inches before making perfect contact. The subliminal message was clear: “This is easy guys, we really don’t need to break sweat to beat you.”

“His cheeky unspoken message is clear: You want the ball, come and get it”

Sevens was his thing and although he could perform at Test and club level he rarely seriously applied his mind to it. He played in three fifteens World Cups without making the impact he should have and that detracts a little from his worldwide reputation. Before the advent of professionalism there was a better living to be made and lifestyle to enjoy by being the world’s greatest sevens player.

What else? When he took the sevens scene by storm in 1989 Serevi was a scrawny kid with extraordinary pace and amazing skills. In his pomp his fitness levels were phenomenal, I recall him once chasing back to tackle Christian Cullen to save a try and very few have done that. Here right at the end he has bulked up but is still in good nick. Look at the ‘def ’ on those quads! Fitness is everything in sevens, nothing is possible without it, and Serevi never forgot that.

Footnote: Look at his left wrist and, if I am not mistaken, there attached to that trademark sweatband is the Biblical quotation that he always used to inspire him and his teams. Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”