Wellington U19 profile: Ivan Fepuleai

The Wellington U19's won the inaugural Graham Mourie Cup at the National Jock Hobbs Memorial event in 2014. Last year they underwhelmed and finished fifth. Leading up to the 2016 tournament, Club Rugby will profile some of the young Lions who are likely to feature in the tournament and who are the future of the game in the capital.

Ivan Fepuleai has had the misfortune of losing three finals by a combined margin of 10 points at the Jerry Collins Stadium in Porirua. Twice he suffered last-minute defeats to Wellington College (2013) and Scots College (2014) while a member of the St. Patrick's College, Silverstream First XV. This year in the Jubilee Cup decider the prop forward produced a stellar display off the bench as Marist St. Pats fell four points short of Tawa.

"It sucks losing finals. The Jubilee Cup defeat really hurt because we put in so much effort. Some of the boys were involved in last year's loss which made it even worse," Fepuleai laments.

Fepuleai was injured as a starting prop when Silverstream lost to Scots in 2014. He left the field with a dislocated shoulder shortly before halftime. Ironically injury to Frank Fa'atau in the Jubilee Cup climax would provide Fepuleai with an earlier than expected opportunity to enter the game.

"Frank did his hamstring and couldn't carry on. I was hoping to get the last 20 minutes, but Frank is more experienced than me so I wasn't expecting much time at all. To get 70 minutes was surprising," Fepuleai recalls.

Fepuleai played a blinder, scrummaging solidly and carrying with gusto. Despite his obvious impact MSP suffered the bitter taste of second place.

"Tawa was the better team on the day. They played with a lot of passion and forced us to go away from our structure. I don't like losing all these finals. It makes me work harder," Fepuleai admits.

Fepuleai played 43 games for the Silverstream First XV. Between 2013 and 2015, Silverstream won 20 out of 21 games in the round robin of the WelTec Premiership. Silverstream beat several leading schools like Gisborne BHS, Palmerston North BHS, Hastings BHS, Wellington College, St. Pats Town, Napier BHS and St. Bede's College.

"I really enjoyed my time at St. Pats. I loved the traditional wins and the brotherhood. Playing with my mates who I trained and lived with was awesome," he says.

However one loss still irks.

"We lost the semi-final to Town last year by three points. We were up four tries to one and choked in the second-half. That was my last game for the First XV. I was really disappointed. I lost a bit of fitness and focus after that," Fepuleai admits.

Rugby league and the desire to do better helped Fepuleai overcome that brief setback. Silverstream was crowned Stephen Kearney Cup champions (unbeaten) for the second year in a row in the summer of 2015. Fepuleai was selected for the Wellington Under-18's rugby team and was a late call up to the WRFU Academy.

"It was a huge opportunity to be called into the Academy. I wanted to get fitter, faster and stronger and I train every morning in a bid to do that. I didn't make the first cut, but I want to make the most of it now. My ultimate goal is to make the NZ 20's next year," Fepuleai enthuses.

The enthusiastic approach of Fepuleai earned him 19 games (most off the bench) for Marist St. Pats this season. He has forced his way into the Wellington Under-19's and demands success.
"We have a really good team on paper, but championships aren't won on paper. We are gelling well and resolving a few combinations. I am hopeful we can win the tournament," Fepuleai says.

Wellington has played two games against open-aged teams for a win and a loss.

"The biggest difference between school rugby and senior rugby is the step up in physicality. Apart from that, they are much the same," Fepuleai reveals.

Fepuleai was born in Samoa and moved to New Zealand in his early teens. His original schooling was completed at the Robert Louis Stevenson School in Apia, but he had strong connections to both St. Pats schools in Wellington. His uncle George played for the Silverstream First XV in 1954 and his older brother Geoffrey, who also plays for MSP and is studying journalism at University, attended Silverstream.

Fepuleai's parents are still based in Samoa. His father Vincent is the CEO of the Samoa Rugby Union and Jackie is a travel agent. Fepuleai, noted for his American accent impersonations, is in close touch with his parents.

"They contact me every Sunday to make sure I go to Church. They keep me on the straight and narrow," Fepuleai laughs.