Police or rugby - Kepu's fate decided by return to Wesley

Sekope Kepu, overwhelmed by his welcome at Wesley College, says the school mke him who he is today. Photo / Getty Images

In a sliding doors version of Sekope Kepu's life, the Wallabies prop might have been patrolling Eden Park on Saturday night instead of playing on it.

Having finished his last year at Wesley College in South Auckland in 2004, Kepu applied to join the New Zealand police force but was turned away.

"We got stuck on the driving licence, because he only had a learner licence and you need full licence," Kepu's father Kitione said yesterday.

Needing six months to get his full licence, Kepu was at a loose end.

The couch was not an option.

"I say to Sekope you waste your time staying at home. You go back to Wesley College," Kitione Kepu said.

Parental respect is big in Tongan culture, so if there were grumbles from Kepu, they were quiet ones.

But happy or not, returning to Wesley would prove to be the defining moment of Kepu's life.

Though he'd played No 8 in Wesley's national title-winning team in 2004, the seeds of Kepu's future Wallaby career were sowed in 2005.

Kepu captained the first XV, and, such was his form, by the end of the year was selected for the New Zealand Under 19s. It was there Kepu was spotted by the All Blacks' scrum coach and moved to prop, and now firmly on the radar of top Kiwi rugby figures, the police career faded.

Kepu signed for Counties-Manakau in the NPC, and two years later was signed by the Waratahs. He was a Wallaby within another year.

Yesterday, wearing the gold colour of his new country, Kepu returned to Wesley College on a day off and was given a hero's reception.

The tiny school is famous in New Zealand as a huge nursery of international rugby talent.

Jonah Lomu is one of 33 Wesley old boys who have played test rugby, and the Methodist school - whose roll of 258 is made up of Maori, Samoan, Tongan and Fijian kids - has nine ex-students in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

The current students and youngsters from neighbouring primary schools gave Kepu, his family and several of the Tongan Wallabies a rousing welcome yesterday, performing songs, chants and a fierce haka.

"I didn't think it was going to be a turnout like this ..." an emotional Kepu said, choking back tears. "I am grateful. Wesley moulded me to be this person I am now, and that's why it holds a special place in my heart.

"By sixth/seventh form, I didn't want to go home. Hence why I came back for another year. It was probably the changing point in my life."

Observing a school tradition, Kepu presented a Wallaby jersey which will be hung in the school dining room alongside six All Blacks jumpers, dozens of junior rep strips and a range of NRL jerseys, including those of Kiwi Tame Tupou and Fetuli Talanoa.

"As a kid you grow up and you want to play rugby fulltime. You see Jonah Lomu and him being a major figure from Wesley College, you aspired to be a player like that yourself," Kepu says.

"But I am definitely happy I am playing for Australia."

The boys say they still stare at the jerseys eating dinner, still dreaming big. Kiwi black, Tongan red, Samoan blue and Fijian white come first, but Wallaby gold is growing on them.

"We want to get our jerseys up there one day too, and he's a big inspiration for us," said Jonathan Pahulu, a lock in the 2011 first XV. "It doesn't matter what colour jersey he's wearing. It's good eh? It shows us we can do anything with our lives."

- Sydney Daily Telegraph