Jerry Tuwai: The rugby captain raised in a one-room home

Knife on one, fork on the other – those are the words Jerry Tuwai inscribed on his first ever pair of rugby boots.

If he wanted to play rugby, his mother told him, he would have to make a living out of it. For families in Newtown, one of the poorest districts on the outskirts Suva, the Fijian capital, rugby boots are expensive.

Raised in a one-room house with corrugated iron walls, Tuwai’s family home is modest. But today, to the people of Newtown, the Fiji star represents hope.

“This is not a good place,” Tuwai’s mother Seruwaia Vualiku tells CNN World Rugby from the family home. “In this community, there are crimes, but Jerry grew out from this place.

“All the children, when they play games, they want to be like Jerry. He’s setting a standard for them. He doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke; the children want to follow in his footsteps.”

Tuwai, who used to play rugby with plastic bottles and bundled-up T-shirts on the streets of Newtown, is now a world champion, Olympic champion and, most recently, captain of Fiji’s sevens side.

Understandably, his family are proud. When her son was first selected for the national team, Vualiku cried.

“I was so overwhelmed with happiness,” she explains. “I knew I wouldn’t worry about food, about clothes. And Jerry did that for us; for me, my husband and my children.”

“It’s not me, it’s not my husband. It’s God. Because I know I didn’t dream that one day Jerry will be a superstar, a rugby player like this. It was all in God’s plan.”

Jerry Tuwai sinks to his knees after his Fiji side scored a try in the last play of the game to win the Singapore Sevens title over Australia in April.

Tuwai is enjoying his second season as captain of this Fiji side, which is currently well-placed to win a third Sevens World Series title in four years and first under coach Gareth Baber.

After making his international debut in 2014, Tuwai has gained a reputation as one of the world's best attacking players, beating defenders with clever sidesteps and devastating speed.

Despite only being 5'7" tall, Tuwai is fearless in defense. Here he dives into a tackle on England's Tom Bowen in Wellington, New Zealand.

Like many Fijians, he is deeply religious, often seen looking to the sky after scoring a try. He has crossed the whitewash 21 times this season.

He celebrates winning Olympic gold -- Fiji's first -- in 2016 with teammate Vatemo Ravouvou. Fiji defeated Great Britain 43-7 in Rio.

Jerry Tuwai's quest to win the Sevens World Series as captain

Prev Next

READ: From teenager to test match, the long road to rugby stardom

READ: British rugby players die from ‘breathing difficulties’ in Sri Lanka

‘The same Jerry’

Tuwai has himself admitted that he was once close to falling onto a troubled path. But rugby, which he only took up after dropping volleyball aged 18, has provided an answer.

A diminutive figure at 5’7”, the first jersey Tuwai wore for a local team flapped around his knees. What he lacked in size, he made up for with fast feet and lightning speed, jinking past defenders without so much as a hand being laid on him.

Now aged 29, Tuwai has made 200 appearances and scored 92 tries in the HSBC Sevens World Series, captaining Fiji since 2017.

There’s one career accolade, though, that the family holds dear.

When he’s travelling with the team, Tuwai takes his Olympic gold medal with him in his suitcase – the first and only medal of any kind that Fiji has won at the Games. But when he’s back home, the family can proudly display it to friends and neighbors.

“People who were sitting in wheelchairs, sick men and women in beds – I took it all round the community,” Vualiku recalls after her son had returned from Rio.

“I took it all around the village. I started in the morning from one side of the village, came home for lunch, then took it up and started from the top of the village.”

Paris, France —

Victory for South Africa and a fifth-place finish for Fiji saw the Blitzboks take the 2017-18 Sevens World Series title by just two points.

Paris, France —

A runner-up finish for Australia in Paris was enough to secure the overall women's title ahead of rivals New Zealand.

Paris, France —

Portia Woodman bagged two tries in the Paris final, which ended 33-7 in favor of the Black Ferns. Despite three tournament wins, however, they couldn't defend their championship title.

London, England —

Fiji's Josua Tuisova looks for an offload in the final of the London Sevens against South Africa. His side ran out 21-17 victors to take control of the series.

Langford, Canada —

New Zealand's Black Ferns inflicted the heaviest ever series defeat on Australia in the final of the Canada Sevens, scoring eight tries in a 46-0 demolition of their rivals.

Singapore —

Fiji moved to the top of the standings with a tense victory over Australia in Singapore.

Kitakyushu, Japan —

New Zealand's Black Ferns backed up Commonwealth gold with silverware in Japan after a 24-12 victory over France in final.

Hong Kong —

Fiji made history in Hong Kong -- the most famous and best-loved leg of the Sevens World Series -- by winning a fourth consecutive title, defeating Kenya 24-12 in the final.

Hong Kong —

Japan gained a berth in next year's Sevens World Series with a 19-14 victory over Germany in the qualifier event.

Vancouver, Cananda —

Fiji fans celebrate in Vancouver where their country secured its second win of the Sevens World Series.

Vancouver, Cananda —

Kenya was the tournament's surprise package. Playing in its first final since Singapore in 2016, Shujaa eventually went down 31-12 to Fiji.

Las Vegas, USA —

There was an historic result in Vegas as the Eagles lifted the trophy for the first time on home soil with a 28-0 victory over Argentina in the final. It was just the second title USA have won, the first coming in London in 2015.

Hamilton, New Zealand —

Fiji overturned a first-half deficit against South Africa to claim a first title of the season in Hamilton -- the first time the town has hosted a Sevens World Series tournament after the New Zealand leg was moved from Wellington.

Sydney, Australia —

Australia's women continued their storming start to the season in Sydney. Tim Walsh's side became the first team ever to go a whole tournament without conceding a point.

Sydney, Australia —

There was more good news to come for home fans that weekend in Sydney. The men eased past South Africa 29-0 in the final, with Ben O'Donnell (pictured) grabbing a brace.

Cape Town, South Africa —

The All Blacks claimed a first tournament victory since March 2016 in Cape Town, toppling Argentina in the final.

Dubai, UAE —

Having finished second to New Zealand in last season's overall standings, Australia's women got their campaign off to winning ways by overwhelming USA 34-0 in the opening tournament in Dubai.

Dubai, UAE —

Last year's world champion South Africa started this season as they ended the last. The Blitzboks saw off New Zealand 24-12 in the UAE to win the first piece of silverware up for grabs in the men's competition.

Rugby Sevens World Series: Story of the season

Prev Next

READ: Last-gasp heroics see Fiji lead sevens championship

READ: New Zealand beat Fiji in Commonwealth Games final

The Olympic aftermath was a moment that saw Fiji rejoice and Suva become a cacophony of noise as locals sang songs and thumped spoons against pots.

“I went to my neighbor and asked if I could borrow her 40-gallon drum,” says Vualiku. “I led all the children, the mothers, everybody round the roads with the big drum. Everyone came out.”

It’s a fervor that has long gripped the Pacific Island nation when its team takes the field. In good weather, Vualiku takes the family television onto the streets to cheer her son from the other side of the world.

But for all his success – be it the silverware won or the clamor of support back home – the local hero has never forgotten home.

“The same Jerry I brought up, the same Jerry that went to New York or Hong Kong, has come back the same Jerry. He’s never changed,” says Vualiku.

‘Little genius’

Idolized back home in Suva, Tuwai also commands respect amongst his players.

The side he’s captaining currently holds a slender lead at the top of the Sevens World Series leaderboard, chasing a third title in four years with two tournaments remaining on the calendar.

“He’s my little genius,” Gareth Baber, who took charge of the side after the Olympics, tells CNN World Rugby.

“You can see how much he puts his body on the line. You’ve got to have ultimate respect for it. It’s all very well being 6’6” and 120-odd kilos, but when you’re his size and you’re still smashing people around like he does – then that commands respect.”

Not the loudest man in the squad, some questioned Baber’s decision to select Tuwai as captain. But, explains the Welshman, “when Jerry speaks, everybody listens.

Ben Ryan spent a golden three years with Fiji's sevens team.

Ryan moved to the Pacific Islands with his interest in the game at its lowest ebb after being disillusioned by his job with the English RFU.

Fiji won two successive men's Sevens World Series titles, and backed that up to take Olympic gold at Rio 2016.

Ryan built up an amazing rapport with his team, but opted to walk away from the role after the Olympics when his contract expired.

However, Ryan -- pictured with Ro Dakuwaqa in Rio -- remains closely linked with the Fiji players and is working to ensure they get a fair pay deal for playing on the global stage.

The Englishman (pictured celebrating after the Olympic final) closely follows the team's fortunes after parting ways.

Fiji enjoyed strong support in Brazil during the Olympics.

But that was dwarfed by the celebrations that greeted both Ryan and his players on their return to Fiji after August's Games.

In the ensuing months, Ryan attended a number ceremonies for him and his players.

Members of the public would line up at his home in Fiji to give him gifts and thank him for what he had achieved.

Ben Ryan: Fiji's rugby sevens hero

Prev Next

READ: Former US rugby captain turns to WWE

READ: How rugby is reforming Italian prisons

“He’s not a shouter, he doesn’t scream and shout and demand things – there’s other players that I task with that,” adds Baber. “What Jerry provides is a real consistent, rational approach to the game.

“When he comes away [from the field], he is the most humble player. He’s the first one with the opposition, win or lose, to go up and shake your hand and say, ‘good game.’

“The values that he has as a human being and his behavior is exactly what I want my team to look like.”

Humility motivated Tuwai when he laced up his first ever pair of rugby boots a decade ago.

Visit cnn.com/rugby for more news and videos

It was there when, at the start of his career, he bought a washing machine for his family, and it’s there when the final whistle blows on a rugby match thousands of miles from home.

His mother’s words ring true. Jerry’s never changed.