Frank Lomani ran away from home with just four Fijian dollars in his pocket to avoid having to work in a bank… Now the scrum-half is gunning for Rugby World Cup history against England

• Lomani was 18 when he left his village and his family to pursue his rugby dream
• His parents didn’t like him playing rugby and lined up a job in a bank  
• Now he’s on course to play England in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals
• Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results

Frank Lomani’s eyes light up when he thinks back to it: running away from home with a small bag and four Fijian dollars in his pocket. 

He boarded the overnight ferry and watched his island disappear into the distance, waves lapping against the boat as he set sail on a life of adventure.

‘It was 2015,’ he says. ‘I lived in a village called Savu Savu. We grew our own food. Taro, cassava, yam, sweet potato. Pigs for pork. The farm was a one-hour walk up the hill. I was brought up on the sugar cane farm. I lived there for 18 years and never left.

‘At the time I was still in high school and I was going to get job at Westpac bank. The Westpac manager wanted me to go and work there after school because I was good at maths. We didn’t have the money to send me to university so my parents saw that as a job opportunity.

‘I didn’t want to work for the bank so I ran away. Ran to the city. It was a Friday. When I left home that morning, I had already packed my stuff to run away after my last exam paper. 

Fiji star Frank Lomani has told of how he ran away from home to pursue his rugby dream

The scrum-half and Fiji are on a collision course with England in the World Cup quarter-finals 

‘I took the ferry, 13 hours. My uncle gave me my one-way fare to Suva. It was 56 bucks and he gave me 60, so I slept on the ferry with four dollars in my pocket. I bought one roti parcel and then had two dollars left.

‘I got into the city in the evening, saw all these big buildings and lights and thought, ‘Oh my God!’ I was only used to one or two storey buildings. 

‘My uncle came to pick me up from the jetty and I asked him not to tell my parents. They thought I’d gone to the sugar cane farm to work. Little did they know I had caught the ferry to Suva!’

The gold veneer on Lomani’s front tooth catches the sun as he speaks. A result of dental treatment after an elbow to his mouth while playing rugby in his village. He explains how he never tires of telling this story. 

Sitting in the courtyard following Fiji’s team hotel in Bordeaux, he continues: ‘My parents didn’t want me to play rugby. My dad wanted me to be a soccer player and earn big money. 

‘We had Saturday classes at school… I wore my uniform on the bus, got off at the field, changed my uniform and played rugby! I played for the village team the whole year! Every Saturday! My parents never knew.

‘In the village, we played touch rugby after school every afternoon. When I got to Suva, I went to this school where they played touch rugby, every day for two weeks. 

‘My parents rang my family at the sugar cane field and they said, ‘Oh, he’s not here’. They called around and found out I was in Suva. They found out on the Friday and told my uncle to send me back on the next boat on the Sunday.

Fiji need a point against Portugal on Sunday to reach the knockout stages for the first time since 2007

Lomani tackles Australia’s Jordan Petaia during their group stage meeting last month

‘That Saturday there was a club game in Suva, for Marist Rugby Club. I was coming home from touch rugby, walking home on the road and I could hear someone calling from the back saying, ‘Our coach wants you to come back because we are short on numbers!’

‘I went into the club, didn’t know anyone, played wing and scored two tries. I didn’t know the Fiji Under-20 coach was watching. I was 19. 

‘The 20s coach asked my coach if I wanted to play for Fiji 20s, then Ben Ryan was watching and he recruited me for sevens. I never played for the sevens team but I never gave up. 

‘Ben Ryan told me that if I want to make it big then I need to go elsewhere, so I went to 15s. So that was the start…’

Eight years later and here we are. Unless there is a seismic upset in Nimes on Sunday night, Fiji will face England in the quarter-final in Marseille. 

They have formed a steely edge under Simon Raiwalui. Lomani has become a key figure, kicking goals, jackaling and feeding off any scraps.

Lomani says Fiji’s style is just the same as they’d play back home in his village

‘You know how we offload and all that? How we play now is how they play back in the village. We say, ‘Play like a Fijian’. That’s our DNA and you can’t take that away from us. We played on a ground with holes everywhere, we played on roundabouts. If we didn’t have a ball we would tie a T-shirt together and use that.

‘I have been in this environment for eight years now and this team is growing. The world knew Fiji as a 40-minute team but it’s way different to how it was before. You can see that every team now plays Fiji as if we are a tier one nation, as if we are a threat.’

Fiji need a point against Portugal on Sunday to reach the knockout stages for the first time since 2007. Lomani says: ‘I was in year six. Back then, we didn’t have TVs in the village. I remember listening to it on the radio. The radio was hung up so you could get reception. Everyone was stood around it in the middle of the night.

‘They put a benchmark where every team after them has tried to reach. Every Fiji team that goes to the Rugby World Cup wants to reach that.’

The class of 2023 are next in line. Listening to Lomani, they clearly have an ability to inspire.

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