LONG READ Maua Letiu: 'Dad was a stay-at-home dad, Mum worked in a chicken factory - they didn't sit and complain'

When Patelise and Palepa Letiu left Samoa over twenty years ago in search of education and opportunity, they can’t have imagined they’d one day be standing in the Colosseum in Rome, or watching their son ride a gondola around Venice, or seeing that same boy captain the Junior All Blacks at a World Championship across the rural northern heartlands of Italian rugby.

Maua Letiu, the middle son of five rugby-loving boys, leads New Zealand U20s on their quest for a first world title since 2018. Letiu’s coaches love the hooker’s rounded skillset and dynamic style, but they’re just as taken by the kid’s soul; a kindness and wisdom rooted in the toil of his parents.

Alongside Patelise’s father, the young couple voyaged to New Zealand to study. They’d planned to return home, but when Palepa fell pregnant with their first child, they decided to make a life in their new surrounds. Eventually, they settled in Christchurch and when Patelise’s father passed, he resolved to keep his family close to the grandfather they lost. The Letius have lived in Christchurch ever since.

Nothing was handed to them. They were overjoyed every time their brood grew, but with each child came more pressure to provide. Somehow, at one stage, they survived on a single salary from Palepa’s blue-collar job.

“They had a lot of struggles when they first came over,” Maua says. “There was a time when Dad was a stay-at-home dad looking after the three boys they had by then, and Mum was working in a chicken factory. They were grinding away. It was really tough on them being away from home.

“They didn’t have the wealthiest environment in Samoa, a pretty humble life over there. It’s really inspiring for me hearing their story. They didn’t sit and complain too much, they just got on with their work. That’s what I really love about them. You can see it in how they’ve raised us and the path we’ve been able to take.”

“My second-oldest brother, Andrew, did a run it straight with me when we were little. I was three, he was six. He broke my arm.

Letiu’s parents may not have carried vast wealth from Samoa, but they did bring their strong Catholic values. That faith remains a central part of his identity. He takes his rosary to every match and prays quietly before going into battle.

“My faith is part of me when I play rugby,” he says. “I’m real big in this captaincy role of taking that wisdom and courage from God. It’s about having really meaningful connections with people who supported me and helped me be confident in myself.

“When I find myself off track, maybe feeling a little pressure, I come back to that and it really centres me. I’ve found over the years that’s my meaning in my life, my faith in Christ, and that’s something I need to always continue to drive. It always impacts my behaviour and my character.”

None of which is to say growing up in a five-boy household was a serene experience. The family tussles are legendary, each brother keen to test his strength against the elder, bigger siblings.

In fact, the worst injury Letiu has suffered came not from mixing it with the juggernauts of the Junior Boks pack, or togging out against the mighty Georgians, or indeed anything the game has thrown at him, but in the back garden.

“We’ve had our fair share of ‘run it straights’,” he says. “My second-oldest brother, Andrew, did a run it straight with me when we were little. I was three, he was six. He broke my arm.

“It was pretty bad; Mum and Dad were pretty angry. I remember having a purple cast and showing it off at the old pre-school. That’s probably the biggest injury I’ve had. It cracks me up when I look back at it.”

This has been a heady year. Letiu earned his Crusaders debut, out of nowhere, in the opening round of Super Rugby Pacific. Codie Taylor was out, then George Bell took a dunt in a pre-season fixture. A few days later, Bell still wasn’t right. Letiu was pulled out of the gym by Dan Perrin, the club’s forwards coach, and asked a question he’ll never forget.

“I saw Belly come off and I thought, at first, it was just precautionary,” Letiu says. “I got a text before I went into the gym session on Sunday, just to be ready in case of any news. I rocked up, was going through my session trying to forget about it. Dan Perrin – we call him Piggy – came in and took me aside into the forwards changing room.

“He asked me, ‘would you be keen to debut this weekend?’ I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t say much, I was just jerking my head up and down like ‘yep!’.”

Letiu jogged on to the Apollo Projects turf with what felt like a hundred relatives and friends in the stands. The local boy, with Samoan blood, bedecked in the iconic red and black.

“It was unreal. It felt like a dream. I couldn’t believe I was next to George Bower and James O’Connor. To do it at home was even more special. We had the whole village there, all the extended family.”

Letiu is not shy about his aspirations. He wants to make himself part of the furniture in Christchurch and eventually earn a full All Blacks cap. A former Christchurch Boys High head boy and first team skipper, he led New Zealand to the U20 Rugby Championship crown and has found his style as captain of his country.

I don’t want to come off as a serious guy, and the boys feel they’re not able to approach me. I care for this team and for others.

“I’ve changed my perspective on leadership. At first I thought it was all about talking lots, being a really big voice in the team, but I’ve found it’s down to your actions really. Leading by your actions is more powerful than your words.

“I want to have fun with the boys, I don’t want to come off as a serious guy, and the boys feel they’re not able to approach me. I care for this team and for others.”

On Monday evening, the Baby Blacks meet a hard-nosed French team full of size and panache for a place in the final. They return to Viadana, one of Italy’s proud rugby outposts, a little town of 20,000 souls where Kiwi fingerprints are evident all over. Tana Umaga played here as a pup. Matt Harvey, whose son Tayne is in the U20s squad, was a Viadana man. Two redoubtable Maori women effectively run the place. Around the turn of the millennium, Josh Sole and Kaine Robertson became naturalised Italians and won many Azzurri caps. Letiu’s New Zealand team gave a coaching clinic to the youth grades a fortnight ago and the kids responded with a special haka they’d spent all week learning.

“There’s a great connection with New Zealand rugby,” Letiu says. “It’s cool we have those worldwide connections through rugby. You think you are all alone in this country but you’re not, there’s always someone down the road you can link up with.”

Today, Patelise Letiu is a correctional officer. Palepa teaches pre-school children. By all accounts, they’ve had a famous time criss-crossing Italy, taking in the majesty of Rome and stopping at every church, chapel and basilica to marvel at the architecture and say a prayer.

Their third son will bring his rosary to Viadana on Monday night; stirred once again by the story of his parents.