A Tuva Rugby Club utility back who collapsed during a Nadroga Rugby Union club competition match in Lawaqa two weeks ago has died at Lautoka hospital. Samu Tiqe Lutumailagi, 27, of Semo Village, Tuva, Nadroga, was playing hooker for his team in their match against Lomawai on Thursday, June 20, due to the hooker’s absence.
From Semo, his father Tomasi Hatuku shared that Tiqe, as he was commonly known, was a dedicated young man who contributed significantly to their community and church obligations. Hatuku, a taxi driver in Nadi, went to work that Thursday morning unaware that Lutumailagi planned to participate in the weekly competition in Lawaqa later that day.
“We had breakfast together that morning. I left for work while he engaged in his usual activities, which included his hobby of planting. I assumed he would attend to his cassava plantation,” Hatuku said. However, after Hatuku left for work, Lutumailagi returned home to pick up his rugby gear and headed to Lawaqa.
The Tuva district comprises eight villages: Vouwa, Nadroumai, Togovere, Semo, Nabau, Kamisi, Emuri, and Niu Yoka. Lutumailagi was the fifth child among eight siblings and one of the seven sons of Hatuku and Amelia Vesu.
“I later learned that he had borrowed money from his older and only sister for his fare to Lawaqa to play,” Hatuku said. Hatuku was at work when he was informed that Lutumailagi was rushed from Koromumu (Sigatoka Hospital) to Lautoka in a serious condition.
Lutumailagi collapsed after the second scrum. “Like every other typical son of Nadroga, Tiqe loved playing rugby. He started with rugby league while attending Ratu Kadavulevu School for Forms Three and Four.”
Lutumailagi represented Cuvu College in the Fiji Secondary Schools Deans competition and was a member of the Tuva Under-19 team that won the Coral Coast Sevens’ U19 title for three consecutive years. He had been part of the Nadi NASA team since last year.
He will be laid to rest in Semo on Friday. Nadroga secretary Isireli Basiyalo referred inquiries about the incident to union president Jiuta Waqavonovono, who was not available for comment.