Sione Molia on unique visit that showed rugby can transform lives

Sione Molia walked off the field at Estadio Joe Zorrilla in Valladolid on Friday morning, drenched in sweat after New Zealand’s 40-0 shutout win over Uruguay. Molia has taken up the captaincy for SVNS Valladolid, which is the second stop of the HSBC SVNS World Championship.

It marked a promising start to New Zealand’s quest for the title in northwestern Spain, but the HSBC SVNS Series veteran’s week has gone far beyond any score. Molia joined three fellow All Blacks Sevens players in a visit to Valladolid Penitentiary Center.

The inmates involved in the session are part of “in contraria, ducet” (against adversity, it leads), which is a social rugby project of the El Salvador Rugby Club. This project has been around for eight years and continues to show rugby has the ability to change lives.

Brady Rush, Dylan Collier and Akuila Rokolisoa also played their part in the unique rugby occasion. There’s even a photo online of Rokolisoa draped in an El Salvador Rugby scarf, while standing shoulder-to-shoulder with others.

New Zealand Sevens listed a few of the values that players want to show both on and off the field, including humility and camaraderie. In a social media post a couple of days out from the SVNS stop, NZ Sevens summed it up best in the caption: “The power of rugby.”

 

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“To be honest, a whole heap of us were terrified when we got the call to go visit prison,” Molia told RugbyPass in Valladolid.

“A blessing and an honour to go in and see what the Spain rugby community is doing for all those people wanting to reintegrate back into society. We’re just glad that we could play a little part in it.”

Collier was set to lead the All Blacks Sevens in the second of three World Championship events, named in the travelling squad for Valladolid and Bordeaux. But the skipper was ruled out just before the tournament.

Molia was rewarded with leadership duties, posing with other SVNS skippers at the captain’s photo in Valladolid. Risi Pouri-Lane continues to lead the Black Ferns Sevens charge, who are top of the World Championship standings.

“The word that we used the whole week was just grateful,” Molia added. “Grateful that we get to be on the other side of the world in Spain and do the things that we love.

“That’s all big ups to the management and the leadership group back home, just making it real easy for whoever gets that call to fill in the shoes to just go in and do the job.”

Molia gave credit to his kids after scoring a ‘soccer’ style try against Uruguay. “All they want to do is kick the ball around the backyard,” the stand-in captain said, after crossing for one of the team’s first-half tries.

Kitiona Vai and Roderick Solo started the point-scoring blitz with a try each during the first five minutes, before Molia crossed before the break. It was 21-0 as the New Zealanders grouped for a half-time huddle, and it was more of the same during the second term.

Kele Lasaqa continues to impress during a breakout season, adding five points to New Zealand’s tally in the eighth minute. Regan Ware and Rokolisoa also touched down as the All Blacks Sevens kicked their campaign off in style.

“We all knew Uruguay is a bit of a niggly team to get a start on for the tournament.

“We just talked about winning all the effort areas and I thought we did that and that’s what got us the win.”