Rupeni Caucaunibua says he’s bankrupt and living in Fiji, having wasted all of his money. The former Blues winger was one of the stars of the 2003 Rugby World Cup and signed mega deals to play in France which should have set him up for life.
However, Caucaunibua has said in a short documentary called Oceans Apart for the Pacific Rugby Players’ Welfare organisation that the money’s all gone, spent on alcohol and handouts. After firstly playing provincial rugby for Northland, Caucaunibuca went on to score some of the greatest tries ever seen in Super Rugby for the Blues.
However, throughout his career there were instances where he would disappear for weeks, with no one knowing where he was. But often he had returned to the remote Fijian village where he’s from, having struggling to deal with the pressures of professional rugby.
Speaking openly on his career, Caucaunibuca said he hopes others can learn from his mistakes and won’t squander their money like he did.
“I just used it for nothing. I spent it on drinking and helping people,” Caucaunibuca said on the Oceans Apart documentary. Rupeni Caucaunibuca made a brief return to Northland in 2013. Rupeni Caucaunibuca made a brief return to Northland in 2013.
“I regret it. I should have kept a few hundred thousand for after rugby. But it’s too late, I’ve already spent it all, for nothing.”
Caucaunibuca said he couldn’t speak English when he arrived in New Zealand and made his debut for Northland in 2001. “No-one taught me when I started,” he said.
“Straight from my village, I ended up a big rugby star. In one year, from my village to Suva, Suva to the Fiji team, and then New Zealand, in one year. No-one taught me to do this or do that.” He only ever played seven tests for Fiji and he regularly got into trouble with the clubs he played for, because of his disappearances and he admits now that he shouldn’t have acted like that.
“You know living in the village with your friends, your relatives, it sometimes made me… I didn’t want to go back,” he said on Oceans Apart. “When I stand on the other side, this side, and look at myself, I think it’s wrong.” “I’m running around, hiding from these guys, hiding from the club, and that is not good. I am not allowed to do that.”
Caucaunibuca made over 100 appearances for Agen in France and also played for Toulouse. He finished playing in France in 2014.
He has returned to village life in Fiji but hopes other Pacific Island rugby players who head overseas for their careers get the support that he didn’t. Now aged 38, he also hopes that players put something away for life after rugby.
Source: Stuff
Featured image: Rupeni Caucaunibuca didn’t play with the Blues for long, but left his mark.
