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GO WALLABIES
Tongan Torpedo Proves A Big Hit
Courtesy of the Herald Sun, Melbourne. Friday, November 5, 1999.The spirit of the original Tongan Torpedo will be coursing through Wallaby No.8 Toutai Kefu when the faraway dreams he had watching the 1991 World Cup spring to life in Sunday morning's final against France. Kefu was an impressionable 17-year old in '91 when basketbal was making a determined bid to snatch him before he'd taken the giant strides to become on of the most dangerous forwards in the game. Enter Willie 'Ofahengaue. Australia's ball-running and crash-tackling revelation of the '91 Cup-winning campaign mesmerised Kefu and he's never strayed from the rugby path he was born to since.
"I'd actually been accepted for an AIS (Australian Institute of Sports) scholarship for basketball around that time but the World Cup and Willie O made such an impression on me, there could not have been any other way to go than rugby," Kefu said.
"Campo, Lynagh, Farr-Jones and Willie O were the names on everyone's lips. The team of Australia was the Wallabies and the big hype hit me too. "It was great to be hearing about another Tongan doing so well and I think everyone with Tongan blood in Australia claimed Willie O after that".
Outside Stephen Larkham, Australians have warmed to no other player more than Kefu during the run towards this World Cup final. It's as if he's been discovered for the first time rather than arriving on tour with 21 Tests behind him.
His rampaging bursts in mid-field have seen to that because not since Mark Loane in the '70s and early '80s have the Wallabies had a "train without a station" causing such havoc from No.8. Plus, of course, there was his much-publicised flurry of punches against Ireland when teammate Daniel Herbert quickly dubbed him "Evander Kefu".
Some players collect nicknames like marbles and that is Kefu's fate thanks to centre Tim Horan. "Tim does think he's very funny because he always laughs at his own jokes,"Kefu quipped.
It's also a good sign that Willie O's image as a shy, deeply religious tee-total figure, who never places a bet, even on Melbourne Cup day, was not inherited by Kefu, who is more Aussie than many Australians.
Because he's so away from the mould, "The Plastic Tongan" is one handle teammates have forced him to live with.
It's true too. Early in the tour, Ladbrokes bookmakers in Portmarnock was an oasis for Kefu. He plonked $51 on a 24-1 winner, Starry Night, at his first blind dip into Irish horse racing.
A quiet TAB stop at Caringdale in Brisbane and a drink with mates would suit him just fine as celebration a week from now if he can play the part everyone expects in overwhelming the French.
"Don't expect me to sing either. It's a gene all Tongans have but somehow I missed out," he laughed.
Kefu is a serene figure everywhere but on the field, a bit like the Tongan side which so rattled the All Blacks when they threw every body part at them in Bristol early in this tournament.
"Those Tongan boys would probably rather put on a big hit than win the game," he said.
Not Kefu. The dust-up in Dublin taught him his lesson in restraint and there is now only one way to emulate the great Willie O - a winner's medal.
T H E K I N G D O M O F TONGA
WEBMASTER Copyright: Loseli Hafoka 1999.