The inside story on fearsome Maurie Fa’asavalu

When flanker Maurie Fa'asavalu signed for Harlequins in 2010, director of rugby Conor O'Shea knew what he was getting: a hard man, an enforcer, someone who had once put the fear of God up England.
That 35-22 defeat of Samoa came in England's ultimately successful 2003 World Cup campaign. But what O'Shea probably did not know, however, is that this physical and typically big-hitting Samoan learned his early trade behind prison walls.
It was Tafa'igata Prison on the Samoan island of Upolu, in fact, where Fa'asavalu's father was a warder and where he believes lessons learned in this unlikely rugby school of hard knocks put him in excellent stead for the journey that lay ahead.
“I grew up in a prison compound,” Fa'asavalu told The Rugby Paper. “My dad worked there from 1991, when I was 11, and I learned rugby playing with the inmates.
“All the warders had a place inside the prison and some of the blokes would come and do labouring around the house, then I'd go and play rugby with them.
“It was a different kind of upbringing, I suppose. They weren't bad men, they just got caught doing stuff and a lot of them came from unhappy family lives.
“To see blokes my age ending up in there when I was still at school, it made me realise I didn't want to be heading in that direction. My dad used to say, ‘you're in prison now', so that was a warning to stay away from the bad side of things later on.”
Fa'asavalu completed his rugby education with the Marist St Joseph club – which, among others, has produced Samoan greats such as Brian Lima and David Lemi – before starring for Samoa at the 2003 World Cup and then moving into Rugby League.
It was St Helens boss Ian Millward who picked him up and Fa'asavalu spent seven successful years in League, winning a Super League title and being capped by Great Britain and England, before being lured back to Union by O'Shea three years ago.
He has not disappointed. Fresh from helping Quins lift the LV= Cup at Worcester last Sunday, above, Fa'asavalu explained: “This is why I came back to Rugby Union. I'd won everything in Rugby League and wanted to prove I could do it in Union as well.
“I knew Steve So'oialo and Tani Fuga pretty well so I'd always kept a close eye on Quins. Nick Evans was there as well and the style of play seemed to suit me, plus there was a good young side coming through and everyone looked keen to play.
“Conor asked me what I wanted and I said I just wanted to win trophies, so it was just a case of settling in and getting the job done.
“I'm really enjoying it here at the moment and after winning the Amlin Cup in 2011 and Premiership last year, we've won trophies for three years in a row now. The LV= Cup was the first one this year and hopefully we can go and get some more.”
At 33, only Evans and Nick Easter in the Quins squad are older. But age is no impediment to Fa'asavalu, who retains a burning desire to improve.
“I find it inspiring to be around so many young lads,” he says. “Not many of us have come from outside the club's academy, but that's great because it means you've got a backbone of lads who've come from within and know the set-up here.
“If you then throw in a bit of talent from outside, it makes for a very exciting mix and that's contributing to the system we like to play.
“Rugby's all about your work ethic and seeing all these lads coming through is amazing. Luke Wallace produced an incredible offload against Bath the other week and I'm thinking, ‘wow!' so lads like him are teaching us older boys stuff as well.
“A lot of our young guys have that X-factor and it's brilliant for the team. It's a very tight group and there's a great buzz at the moment.”
The humble Samoan is playing his part, too, and much of that comes down to his formative years spent with the inmates of Tafa'igata Prison.
NEALE HARVEY