Rapture Falefata. PHOTOS/Warren Buckland
RAPTURE FALEFATA wants his teammates to treat him like any other player.
The Napier Technical premier reserve grade loosehead rugby prop also wants opposing players to treat him like any other opponent. Nothing unusual here one might argue.
But if you had watched the 18-year-old closely during his 10 minutes of action when his team lost 37-15 to Hastings Rugby and Sports at Elwood Park last weekend, you would have realised his right leg was "wooden", or a prosthetic limb to use the correct terminology.
"It's the result of a birth defect. It was the same with my fingers ... every second finger on both hands was short," he explained before joining his teammates for training on Thursday night.
Despite these issues, Falefata has played rugby since his secondary school days and played up to 3rd XV level for Napier Boys' High School. When he moved to Australia with his family, he played Aussie Rules football at second division level for Shepparton in Melbourne.
"That game against Hastings was my first game back playing rugby. We've only been back in the Bay from Aussie for two months and work and family commitments prevented me from playing until last weekend," the Red Badge security officer said.
"Rugby is my main sport. It's just normal here in New Zealand," Falefata said.
The Auckland-born Samoan pointed out there were a couple of occasions in Australia when he lost his leg while playing.
"I just stopped playing and put it back in.
"It hasn't happened here yet and I have it well taped for games."
Falefata said his doctors aren't too concerned about him playing and he has yet to experience any negative feedback from teammates or opponents.
"Rapture has a great attitude and is a good team man who encourages everyone around him. I wish all my players were as committed as him and it's awesome to see opposing players treat him like anyone else," Tech's premier reserve grade coach Chris Halas said.
Although Tech have the bye today, Falefata, the oldest of three children, stuck to his usual training routine this week.
"I want to build my fitness up so I can play more than 10 minutes next time out," said Falefata, the winner of the prestigious Storkey Award for Citizenship when in year 9 at NBHS.
"When it comes to rugby, I just want to keep doing the best I can. My long-term goal in sport is to go to the Paralympics and compete in athletics field events like the discus and shot put," he said.
While at Shepparton High School, Falefata competed against able-bodied athletes at the Victoria State championships and finished second in the discus. His personal bests are 32m for the discus and 12m for the shot put.
Once the rugby season ends Falefata, who is also a more than handy drummer, will take up an offer from the Hastings Athletics Club club captain Sharee Jones to train alongside a couple of other athletes with Paralympic ambitions.
"It doesn't worry me whether it's next year in Rio or 2020 in Japan as long as I get there. I'm prepared to put in the work to get there too," he added.
Falefata's courage reminded several of last weekend's spectators of Vitale Ipolito who played rugby up to reserve grade level for Central Hawke's Bay and league for the Waipukurau Rams in the early 1990s despite only having one arm. Ipolito is still in the Bay, living in Flaxmere.
Hawke's Bay Rugby Union's club development officer Gary Macdonald said the referee approached him before the start of last weekend's match asking if he had an issues with Falefata playing.
"I told him there are no rules regarding players with prosthetic limbs. If players are happy to put themselves forward in these situations then all power to them. As far as we're concerned, the more players playing the game the better."