Tagicakibau's long way home

A hamstring injury will keep Sailosi Tagicakibau off the field at Pukekohe tonight. Picture / Amos Chapple

He's taken the long way home for his debut season with the Chiefs.

His heart may be in South Auckland, where he made his name as a school rugby star, but Sailosi Tagicakibau was always destined to find a new first-division home.

The 22-year-old Samoan World Cup wing, whose manager is former All Black Craig Innes, chose Taranaki over offers from Northland and Southland last year.

It was another inevitable loss for second-division Counties Manukau, whose stocks have fallen to the point where their link with the Chiefs often seems tenuous.

Pukekohe Stadium is pre-season material only: they are more a feeder for Waikato than a healthy franchise partner.

Tagicakibau's selection in the Chiefs via the draft is a reminder of how things have slipped even though Counties Manukau fans will enjoy seeing another old boy made good.

He was due back on Pukekohe Stadium tonight for the trial match against the Hurricanes, but a hamstring injury has intervened.

"I was really hoping to tread on home ground again," he says. "When I played at school, everyone wanted to be a Steeler. Hopefully, I'll be able to go back and play for Counties Manukau one day. I'm still very proud to come from that area."

There is an irony to Tagicakibau's career. New Zealand mainly opens the Super 12 door to Pacific Island wings. He is Samoan qualified, yet born in this country.

His earliest rugby steps were with Auckland Marist. The family lived in Ellerslie, and his father Isikeli - a lock - and an uncle had played for Marist.

The family moved to Manurewa, and Tagicakibau attended Papakura High School then the rugby-famous Wesley College.

Tagicakibau was in the national champion first XV - which included Chiefs backs Sitiveni Sivivatu and Stephen Donald - scoring three tries in the 2001 final win over Rotorua Boys High.

A major decision came shortly after leaving school. His father is Fijian. His mother Lofi - who was a talented sprinter - is Samoan.

Tagicakibau played for the Fijian Colts but when Samoa came calling with offers to play for their sevens and then the 2003 World Cup in Australia, his international path was determined. It was not a decision that appears to have burdened him.

"I've met a few half Samoan-Fijians although when I was growing up I thought I was one of a kind," he says. "Most people thought I was full Fijian because of my name, and my appearance is pretty much Fijian. But I get along with Samoans as well.

"There wasn't one big factor in choosing Samoa I guess. The World Cup opportunity arose and any sports person's dream is to playin a World Cup."

Not quite. Tagicakibau's old schoolmate Sivivatu turned down a guaranteed World Cup spot with Fiji to qualify for the All Blacks.

Should his fitness and form return, the now-qualified Sivivatu will surely get an international chance from Graham Henry, who involved him in last year's trial.

But Sivivatu is recovering from a shoulder operation and is due for a return only in early April. That opens the door for Tagicakibau and Waikato speedster Sosene Anesi, the remaining Chiefs wing specialists.

Tagicakibau won notice last season with six tries for Taranaki, where he is contracted to play until the end of next year.

He has already appeared on rugby's biggest stage during the 2003 World Cup. That included being part of the Samoan side which gave eventual champions England a fright in their pool match in Sydney, where the Samoans led by three points at halftime.

Tagicakibau says: "I'll never forget looking up at the Telstra Dome and seeing faces like Jonny Wilkinson and Ben Cohen."

But World Cups only provide fleeting chances for players. This year shapes as an opportunity for Tagicakibau to stamp a firmer mark as the Chiefs chase a second semifinals appearance.