Samiuela Moli: Tonga hooker ‘grateful’ for fresh start with Leicester Tigers

Samiuela Moli is particular about the boots he wears.

There is nothing necessarily special about the pair that the Leicester Tigers hooker puts on when he plays, but they are a constant reminder of the path it took, through vineyards and building sites, to establish a professional rugby career.

Just months ago, the Tonga international did not even know where he would be lacing up next when Super Rugby team Moana Pasifika went out of business., external

So it was rather fitting that 27-year-old Moli was still clutching his white and yellow boots after training at Mattioli Woods Welford Road when he sat in the stands to talk about what his new start – more than 11,400 miles (18,300km) away from the club that collapsed – means to him.

This is a player whose early career was one of hard graft, early morning starts and long days of manual labour which he had to fit around his commitments as a semi-professional player on the books at the Crusaders’ academy in New Zealand.

“I wouldn’t say my journey is perfect, but it’s got me where I am today and I’m forever grateful and I give thanks to God,” Moli told BBC Sport.

And it’s the footwear – be them Wellies, steel caps or studded rugby boots – that puts that journey into context.

“I grew up on a farm back in Blenheim [New Zealand] and Dad worked in the vineyards and, as a labourer, you know where hard work comes from. On any school holiday or break you would be working from a young age,” he said.

“So every time you are training, you are always reminding yourself that if you are not going to work hard here then you are going to end up back slaving away at grapes.

“So that becomes your mindset going into training – you’d rather wear rugby boots than gumboots.

“When I got my first opportunity with Tonga I knew I didn’t want to look back.

“I was a builder at the time, but I’ve always reminded myself when I cross that line that I want to do this forever, or for however long I can do it for, and I know I never want to wear gumboots, that’s for sure.”