Transcript
Siua Maile was only called into the squad a few weeks ago as the third-choice hooker.
'Ikale Tahi coach Toutai Kefu admits he still did not know much about the youngster.
"We didn't envisage him taking any part in the World Cup, so we brought him along basically for experience and because we identified that he's got a massive potential and maybe a player of the future. Three weeks ago he was nailing tin roofs to houses so this is a great opportunity for him. I think he's still a bit shell-shocked to tell you the truth but what a wonderful opportunity."
Maile grew up in Tonga but moved to New Zealand in 2014 to take up a rugby scholarship at Timaru Boys High School, where he played in the first fifteen for two years.
The teacher in charge of rugby, Edward Patterson, says they are rapt for their former student.
"We got him along with another boy in 2014 I think it was and he came as a midfield back and he was actually playing centre for the first four or five weeks."
"Could you ever have envisaged he'd end up as a hooker at a Rugby World Cup?"
"He was always a stocky build but we thought he was going to get a bit bigger. We moved him to flanker and there he sort of just developed and kicked on really quickly. He became actually one of the best flankers in that UC (First XV) Competition. He always looked like he could move in there but maybe we were pretty hesitant to do that and I don't think it's really happened until this year."
Timaru Boys has never had a Pacific Islands rugby international and Edward Patterson said they now have another reason to tune in on Saturday night.
"We've had a large amount of All Blacks over the years - Issac Ross was the last one in 2009 - so it's taken ten years but we're rapt about this really. We weren't expecting it at all, we wish him the best and we just can't believe he's probably marking Dane Coles and Codie Taylor next week."
His coach at Shirley Rugby Club, Deane Lutton, said Maile was only converted from a loose forward a few seasons ago following a request from the Canterbury Rugby Union.
Unlike the All Blacks players he will come up against on Saturday, Maile has to juggle his rugby commitments with work and Lutton says 2019 is proving to be quite the year for the rising star.
"He's a very modest and humble sort of a chap. He's got a young family: they've just had a baby sort of three or four weeks ago (and) a new wife sort of six months ago so for a young man things have really taken off this year for him."
The Shirley club have put their full support behind the Tongan hooker, who plays alongside his brother Ngase for the club's premier side and is taking time off work to realise his World Cup dream.
"We've got a couple of quiz nights coming up and a few silent auctions and raffles etc. People are just putting their hand in the pocket to be honest as well, donating money just to make sure he's got enough."
The Shirley club were planning to watch Tonga's opening Rugby World Cup match against England later this month, in the hope Maile might make a cameo off the bench.
But after his surprise elevation, the big screen and bowls of fries in the club rooms might be in hot demand this weekend too.
This is Vinnie Wylie.
