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Catching up with the Bruise Brothers Posted: Wednesday June 26, 2002 9:17 AM
Two of the UK's best loved players, Samoans Pat Lam and Inga Tuigamala have announced their retirement from the game. Rugby World's Daryl Holden meets The Bruise Brothers. I'M right on time, at the correct hotel, but Samoa's "Bruise Brothers," Pat Lam and Va'aiga Tuigamala, aren't around. Time to take a seat in the lobby. They can't be far away. Twenty minutes later and still nothing. The hotel receptionist has tried their room, the restaurant and the bar, but there's no answer. I tell him to try the restaurant again, remembering that old Manu Samoa joke about Lam working hard at training, while Tuigamala worked hard at lunch. Nope. They're not there. Then a voice behind me offers an explanation. "Ah, you haven't allowed for Samoan time, have you?" says Rob Andrew, the pair's grinning Newcastle rugby director. "They could arrive any time in the next four hours." Oh great. Samoan time. How could I forget that concept of Pacific Island time, when you travel at a speed or pace that is natural or comfortable but hardly reliable for reporters on deadlines? Fast forward 12 hours. It's now 8am and I'm on the phone to the no-showing Samoan legends. I've got other appointments to meet so I can't risk fronting up to their team hotel again. A chat over the phone will do. Lam answers. I mention the Samoan time theory and he laughs. "Yeah, Samoan time. We got a bit held up. Sorry about that, mate." Is that it? Oh well, all right. Apology accepted, not that I had much alternative. I didn't want to go upsetting these two lads -- especially before their breakfast -- because I've seen the serious damage they can cause when they tackle. Unfortunately, those big tackles will soon be a thing of the past because Lam, 33, and Tuigamala, 32, have finally decided to call time on their playing involvement in the English professional club scene. Their retirement at the end of this season is a sad occasion and the end of an era for the pair, who are regarded among the most successful and influential overseas stars to grace the British game since it turned professional seven years ago. Loose forward Lam, the former Manu Samoan captain, has been here for nearly six years and has led Newcastle to the Premiership title and Northampton to the Heineken European Cup. He is deeply respected and has been a galvanizing force, not only at the back of the scrum with his eye for the gap and his silky Pacific Island handling and passing skills, but also as one of those treasured never-say-die characters who embodies courage and integrity. Tuigamala is nearing the end of an even more illustrious northern hemisphere stint, which started in 1994 with rugby league club Wigan. Three seasons later he returned to rugby at club level in England (with Wasps) and selection for Samoa followed. It doesn't seem that long ago that "Inga the Winger" was the All Blacks' prime weapon and one of the stars of the game after he burst onto the New Zealand scene in 1989 with Auckland. When he defected to professional English rugby league, it was a blight on New Zealand's 1993 Christmas festivities, but most people accepted he had to seek financial security. But this season Lam and Tuigamala were reunited at Newcastle to end a playing partnership that started during their schoolboy days in Auckland. Rob Andrew, the former England and Lions flyhalf, says the game will lose two unique personalities. He has no doubts how they will be remembered. "They have been two of the most influential and inspirational players to come into our professional game because of their performances and conduct, on and off the field," he says. "They will go down in folklore. They have had a huge influence, especially at our club." High praise indeed and Andrew isn't just saying that because of blind loyalty. Talk to anyone involved in British rugby and the sentiments will be the same. They'll tell you that Lam and Tuigamala don't so much buy into a club's cause as become it. They have given Samoa, Britain's foreign imports and rugby union itself a good name in the last ten years. That means a great deal to them, especially Tuigamala. He has been a father figure for Polynesians moving to the northern hemisphere to take up professional league or union contracts. "I was one of the pioneers and you feel almost an obligation to help those who came from our shores, to give them support where necessary," Tuigamala says. "It's nice looking back now and seeing so many New Zealanders and Pacific Islanders here, and knowing you were at the forefront of it all. "For both Pat and I, rugby has been a love. We play because we love the game. Because it has given us so many other opportunities to do other things in life. Fortunately, we have had the opportunity to have an influence on and off the field. I also think we've been a breath of fresh air for people over here. I'd like to think that we have made a positive impact on the game." No doubt about the impact-making, and not just on the field either. Off the field Tuigamala's friends talk of generosity, kindness and an ever-helping hand. A deeply religious man, the born-again Christian is never happier than at the bosom of his family. Lam is the same. Together they have many good memories of Britain and have recently reminisced a lot, reflecting on what they have achieved and the experiences their young families have enjoyed. "The lifestyle has been brilliant and we brought two kids over and we're going home with four," Lam says. "The best thing is that I've been able to spend so much more time with my family and I've learnt a lot as a rugby player. You learn a lot of different aspects of the game over here, especially with coaching. You can take the best of both hemispheres and put it all together." But nothing can last forever. Tuigamala and his Tongan wife, Daphne, have decided it's time to go home. First stop will be Auckland, for the educational opportunities available to their daughter and three sons, who will be eligible to play for New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga or England. Tuigamala will again be available for Manu Samoa, who are preparing for some World Cup qualifying matches. Lam is not so sure of his plans. The pull of the south will be strong and there will be passionate pleas from Samoans for him to accept a major post with Samoa, but he has coaching offers elsewhere, although he won't say from whom. One of those offers has almost certainly come from Scotland, where he is the deputy to one of the world's best coaches, Ian McGeechan. The two have a powerful mutual regard. When Lam eventually returns home, he will leave with a vast admiration for rugby in his adopted nation. He has been through the difficult times, when in-fighting between clubs and the Rugby Football Union threatened to destroy the game as it struggled with professionalism. Now he believes the English game is heading in the right direction and suggests "rugby's sleeping giant" has awoken. "The biggest advantage these guys have over here is that there is so much money involved," he says. Lam is impressed with the young talent emerging through the clubs' academy systems and has noticed a huge lift in playing standard at Premiership level. That is in no small way due to the playing and coaching efforts of foreign players such as Lam, who sometimes cringes when he hears those from Down Under rubbish the game as being soft. "The players who've come up to try it have realised how tough it is. I thought it was going to be soft when I first came over but you just have to ask people like Josh Kronfeld or John Leslie, and others who have come here to play. "It's a lot more physical in England because of the driving forward play, whereas in New Zealand the defensive hits are a lot more physical. But what Inga and I have found is that every year the intensity has got harder and harder." Perhaps that's a sign that age and injuries are catching up with the "Bruise Brothers"? Lam doesn't disagree. Years of top-flight rugby have chipped away at his body, although the defiant spirit remains intact. Cutting the umbilical cord to the changing room won't be easy but he knows it is time. But typical of a sporting warrior, Lam has been digging deep for one final personal reward, which says much about the man. "You have to listen to your body," he admits. "I don't want to go on until it all falls apart. But I'd also like people to offer me a contract after the season ends because I played well. Then I'll enjoy saying, 'No thanks'. For me, that would be very satisfying."
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