Built For War
“He is a freak, and the sooner he goes away the better.” — Will Carling, Captain of England Rugby, referring to Jonah Lomu.
It’s June 18, 1995, in Cape Town, South Africa — the Rugby World Cup is in the final round to determine who will get the opportunity to compete for rugby’s most coveted prize. The combatants: the New Zealand All Blacks and the England Rugby team; two of the most decorated and storied teams in the history of the sport. On the pitch, is a young player for New Zealand, a player born in Auckland to Tongan parents, a player that will go down in history as one of the greatest players of all time, Jonah Lomu, but that’s not for today. Today is for domination.
This World Cup proves to be the coming out party for the 20-year-old left winger. Standing at 6’5” and weighing 265 pounds, he is an imposing physical specimen when not in motion, but he was to be in motion on this day and that made him even more intimidating. Sprinting past, spinning away from, and running straight over the Englishmen that had no hope of stopping him on his way to four tries(scores).
Jonah Lomu was perhaps the most dominant, but the rugby teams of Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji are loaded with players of similar stature just by virtue of genetics. These teams are competing against better coached, better trained, better managed, and certainly better funded teams from around the world. So how are they able to compete? How can it be that roughly 3% of NFL players are Polynesian? How can such a small group of islands consistently provide big, strong, and fast men that are always looking for contact? To understand how, as always, we must look to their history.
The Wayfinders
The Pacific Ocean: 12,303 miles wide. Inky black at night and shimmering brilliantly in the day. The glittering gold reflection of the sun on the waves is often but the Crown Jewels that adorn the cruel tyrant and oppressor, King Heat. On a comparatively small outrigger canoe, the strongest set out in search of abundance.
Fiji, Hawai’i, Samoa, and Tonga, these specks of dust jutting from the ocean floor and floating in the vastness would be hard enough to find in modern times with modern equipment, but the ancient wayfinders were expected to make the journey with only the stars, winds, and birds as their guides. Such a journey could only ever be completed by the strongest, the people with the endurance, strength, and sheer willpower needed to complete a nearly impossible task.
Once an island was occupied and settled, there was always the risk of other wayfinders venturing to the island, and the inevitable combat that would follow. The islands of the South Pacific must have been a training ground for war and a proving ground for warriors. Something, perhaps, that carries over into the Polynesian experience in modern contact sports.
A Scrum of Warriors: Polynesian Rugby
The big three of Polynesian Rugby; Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga are perpetual underdogs on the international stage. However, this has little to do with talent, physical attributes, or skill, and more to do with the funding that the major rugby powers have at their disposal. Even though they are underdogs, the island teams are a fan favorite everywhere that they play due to their warrior spirit and good nature. They play tough but are almost always in good spirits with a smile and rapport with the fans. They are also favorites in no small part due to their pre-game ritual: to the Samoans, it’s called Siva Tau, the Fijians call it Cibi, for the Tongans it’s known as Sipi Tau, and for the Māori, it’s perhaps the most well-known version: the haka.
These war dances are a cultural throwback to when the islanders went to war with each other. Enforcing the battle, they would dance and chant to prepare them for war and to intimidate their opponent. What after all is rugby but a proxy war in miniature? A war between the invaders and the invasions of the away team. Attackers and defenders. An accepted form of nationalistic and tribal violence.
Once the rugby test begins, the violence starts shortly thereafter. Rugby is always an intense and rough sport regardless of which teams are playing, but it’s especially rough and tumble when the Polynesian teams are on the pitch. The Tongans are known for their sheer amount of size and physicality, the Samoans are a solid mix of size, power, and speed, while the Fijians are more known for their speed and flair of attack on the pitch.
Despite having a significant lack of funding in comparison to the powerhouse teams and thus little to no access to top-level facilities, training, and equipment, they can always compete and even on occasion defeat the power teams. At the first Rugby World Cup held in 1987 and co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand; Tonga and Fiji both competed with Fiji putting Polynesian rugby on the map and being competitive with traditional power, France, before ultimately being defeated and eliminated from the competition. From those humble beginnings, the Polynesian squads have built upon the early success of the Fijians and remained competitive.
The All Blacks of New Zealand
The most successful team in Polynesian rugby is the New Zealand All Blacks. Perhaps the most dominant team in all of rugby, in 2015 they became the first team to win the Rugby World Cup three times and they are routinely near the top of the world rankings. Due to the diversity of their team which consists of New Zealanders of European, Māori, Samoan, Tongan, and Fijian descent, they are perhaps the best example of what would be and is still possible if the island nations would receive the same amount of funding as the All Blacks and other traditional powers.
The aforementioned Jonah Lomu, a legend while playing for the All Blacks, was a New Zealander whose parents emigrated from Tonga. Like so many other families from the islands, they emigrated to New Zealand for better opportunities for their families. Imagine how the balance of power could shift if the islands had the same opportunities as a nation such as New Zealand.
Wayfinding to the Mainland
Just as the ancient voyagers found a way to navigate the vast Pacific Ocean, the modern Polynesians have found a way to come to the mainland in search of abundance. For many, American football is a means to get an education at a quality university and perhaps even the ability to make more money than they likely ever imagined if they can make it to the NFL.
This is not a far-fetched pipe dream for those athletic Polynesians that play football, because a Samoan male is, by some sources, 56 times more likely to play in the NFL than an American non-Samoan. Most Polynesians that make it to the NFL tend to play along the offensive line and front seven of defense (linemen and linebackers), the positions with the most contact and physicality are best fitted for their natural physical abilities. Recently, however, Samoans have made it to the NFL at the Quarterback position, following in the footsteps of Jack “the Throwin’ Samoan” Thompson.
Conclusion
There are currently about 70 Polynesian players on NFL rosters, an amazing number when one considers that less than 1% of the American population is of Polynesian descent. This in conjunction with the competitiveness of the Polynesian rugby teams that compete mainly on pure athletic abilities, one can’t help but speculate that their history of long ocean voyages, exploration, combat, and genetics are best matched for full-contact sports. Perfectly suited to put their wonderful culture on full display for the world to see and to bring honor to their homelands, for sometimes the most honorable thing that someone can do, is stand up to seemingly insurmountable odds undeterred and give it their all.
The author, Jamie, is grateful for the time that you have given to read this article and hopes that you were able to learn or otherwise take something useful from it. He had long been fascinated by the Polynesian cultures and ancient migration and hopes that he was able to honor them sufficiently in this short article.
