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Emotional Andy Farrell's lovely tribute to the late Inga Tuigamala

(Photo by Andrew Redington/Allsport)

Ireland coach Andy Farrell has paid a beautifully emotional tribute to Va’aiga Tuigamala, his former Wigan rugby league teammate who sadly passed away on Thursday at the age of just 52. Having represented the All Blacks at the 1991 World Cup, ‘Inga the winger’ was already an established rugby union star when he breezed in through the doors of Farrell’s league club in England in 1993. 

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Six years younger than Tuigamala, Farrell was in awe of the Samoan-born legend’s talent during their time together at Wigan and the notification of his sudden death hit the Ireland coach so hard that he had to take a minute by himself on the Six Nations training ground to absorb the tragic news. 

Tuigamala played 102 games for Wigan, scoring 62 tries in that time, but it wasn’t just the prowess of his ability on the pitch that left a lasting impression on Farrell, who followed his friend in changing rugby codes and becoming a reputable union figure in his own right. “You’ve got me there because he’s a tremendous fella,” said Farrell when asked on Friday afternoon for his memories of his former league teammate.

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      “I was very lucky to be able to spend some time with him. When you meet some people, they just touch you straight away from the off. His smile, his generosity, his just being as a person was outstanding. He touched everyone and he was very giving of his knowledge. I’m talking about him as a person here, how he was as a family man, devoted husband and father. 

      “Whilst he was at Wigan the amount of people that used to come over and see him, not just family but friends shows what he means to people and when he left Wigan we was all gutted because he added so much to the group. So that’s him as a person and I suppose that is what we will miss first and foremost. 

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      “From a rugby fans’ point of view, he was awesome. I mean, I was in awe of him. I was young. When I was playing with him I was in awe of his skill. He came over to rugby league and it was daunting for him because Inga had played (amateur era) rugby union on the wing, he wouldn’t have been used to being thrown into the professional game. 

      “I remember him being thrown into a game playing centre against the legend of Mal Meninga – what a tussle. He adapted unbelievably well because of his skill set and he had unbelievable feet for such a big, dynamic, powerful beast of a man, so I can’t say enough about him. 

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      “I was on the training field yesterday [Thursday] and it came up on my watch. I couldn’t believe it. I actually couldn’t believe it. I had to have a minute to myself. Prayers and thoughts are obviously with his nearest and dearest. Very sad news for everyone.”

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      Comments

      1 Comment
      h
      hellen 1249 days ago

      Very sad news as the news of the other rugby player who passed at 48 years old

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      SK 1 hour ago
      Lessons the Wallabies must heed to turn Lions heartbreak into future success

      Brett I love your fresh take on the picture that needed to be painted and ultimately wasnt. I agree there just wasnt enough in it for the ref to call it back and ultimately the ref was consistent the whole night at the breakdown. Australia are damned disheartened now but look how close it came to beating a team Campo said would thrash them by 30. This is the perfect prep for the Rugby Championship and the Boks and NZ. The Boks will be able to bring a scary pack to face the Aussies but it will be just as scary as facing these lads and so the Wallabies for me are making progress. They are not quite the finished article and the soft moments and tries and passive defence just proves it. Schmidt was brought in to make Australia better, he was brought in to make sure Australia improved in time for the Lions to avoid an embarrassment and look he has done that and taken them close so while the result is gutting its a job well done so far. lets see if they can take one step further and pilfer a test off these patchy Lions. Just a quick word on refs and the laws. Can we please tell World Rugby to simplify the game. At least 5 or 6 laws were examined in the wake of the last minute cleanout and several said Tizzano should have been pinged, others say Morgan should have been pinged. If former players and refs cant agree on what the right call was then it means the game is too complex. The refs have a clear mandate to let the game flow. I agree with that but the laws must support the refs. Right now they do not and leave too many holes for the refs to plug. The result is a furore after every major engagement between nations where the refs are abused.

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      IkeaBoy 2 hours ago
      'The Wallabies only have themselves to blame': How the Lions sunk Australia in Melbourne

      I’m a proud Irishman with a weakness for the underdog. My only stake in the game was an Aussie win to take the series to a decider. Even overlooking the actual clear out - which was the only thing Piardi instructed the TMO to review - I think it’s very easy to be objective and say that Australia got done on the calls.


      It’s a phase of play that unfolds in less than 10 seconds but is fairly easy to breakdown.


      1 - Ryan (#19 Lions) is tackled legally, goes to ground in possession of the ball but makes no effort to release the ball. He has to immediately once he goes to ground. PENALTY.


      2 - Tizzano (#21 Australia) is first man to the ball (from either team) and forms the ruck with his own hindfoot. Side entry doesn’t apply to him as the ruck is not formed at this stage but rather it’s formed by him. NO PENALTY.


      3 - Even to completely ignore the actual clear out (penalty/no penalty), foul play can still have occurred without the need for a HIA. The fact that Tizzano is walking around and available for the next match doesn’t mean he didn’t get emptied. His mouthguard data does seem to have registered an almighty force though. 50/50.


      4 - Both Morgan (#20 Lions) and Genge (#17 Lions) go to clear out but both do so by driving through the ruck off their feet and falling over the ball. Sealing. PENALTY


      5 - I still don’t understand why none of the coverage picks up on this - Morgan holds Tizzano’s feet in a wrap on the pitch after the clear out. On the match clock it’s 79.03 to 79.07 before he releases. Playing the player off the ball. PENALTY


      Piardi controls the narrative when reviewing with the TMO and starts on the wrong foot. The discussion is all on the basis that both sets of players arrive at the same time (which changes mitigation around foul play) which they don’t. They clearly don’t as Tizzano is first to the ball.


      For 79 mins that match was brilliant. The crowd was brilliant. The atmosphere seemed brilliant. It’s a loss on the sport that a gang of mic’d up officials can not get it right.

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