Rupeni Caucaunibuca’s trials and tribulations are too many to list here.
Despite all his entertaining flamboyance on the field, he was banned for possessing cannabis, not appearing for his country and club – and thinking of quitting Fiji, believing he could play for the All Blacks.
Where did it all go so terribly wrong for Caucaunibuca? He had the world at his feet, recognition as one of the great ones and adulation in his home country, but no, it did not quite work out the way many expected.
In the age of cancel culture, it is easy to remember a player for his failings rather than the sheer pleasure he brought to international rugby followers.
What a player he was too. Sit down and spend time watching videos of a winger with blistering pace; his swerve, acceleration and majestic stride that left opposition players floundering in his wake.
Caucaunibuca had flair and finesse like no other and was appraised by noted journalist Stephen Jones as “the greatest attacking player in rugby, perhaps the best of all time”.
His career started off well with recognition by the late Rupeni Ravonu at a sevens competition and his time with Northland and the Blues.
It is easy in hindsight to advise that Caucau, as he was also known, should have continued his playing career with the Blues and Fiji and built a pathway from there. After all, it would have only been a three-hour flight from Fiji to Auckland and could have developed as a player before contemplating any further moves.
Often when a player’s career takes off so quickly as Caucaunibuca’s did with the accompanied wealth and fame, they may lose track of what is important to them, including family and friends.
One positive reason to stay in Auckland was the Blues backline which included Carlos Spencer, Joe Rokocoko, Doug Howlett, Rico Gear and Mils Muliaina.
Rupeni emulated Jonah Lomu at the 2003 Rugby World Cup where he was the star performer, thrilling the crowds with his sensational tries and attacking ability.
His try against France was quite breathtaking, but started a theme of two steps forward, one step back, by being suspended for punching French flanker Olivier Magne.
After his two-match suspension, he returned with a vengeance versus Scotland, where he scored two tries. This was a theme for most of Caucau’s rugby career, best described as being an enigma.
Rupeni Caucaunibuca of Fiji against the Wallabies in 2010. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
He decided to move to Europe and play for the French club Agen in 2004, which brought all manner of riches and temptations.
If only he had been mollycoddled, for want of a better word, by the club and officials, they may have brought out a maturity in him with improvement in discipline and reliability.
But that was not to be and he upset people so much that he could no longer be trusted. Was he to blame or was he a product of how island players were treated in France back then?
I sincerely hope that today there is financial advice and understanding by the clubs for Pacific Islanders who were left to their own devices and had little support for players a long way from home.
I believe that in 2019 the European clubs had instigated a more family-orientated approach.
Caucaunibuca became bankrupt in 2019 and said he had wasted all his money on alcohol and helping other people. He was quoted in Stuff.co.nz: “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”.
A JustGiving crowdfunding page had been set up to assist “Rups” as he was also known, to start a business and support his family.
People were asked to donate in return for all the thrills and entertainment he had given.
Journalist Ian Borthwick travelled to Fiji to see Caucaunibuca’s village and found no running water or electricity with only a smattering of buildings.
Borthwick and the official from Agen realised that it was an enormous shift for Rupeni to leave his small village to continue life in the bustling metropolis of Agen in France with no family or advice on life skills.
So, there must be sympathy for him rather than any negative thoughts about his character and decision-making.
Was he a man from an isolated village in Fiji who in France was lost, lonely and homesick?
Caucaunibuca was described by his fellow international players, Brian O’Driscoll and Mike Tindall as being “the greatest player they had seen,” and Jones said he was “a magician and a nightmare”.
We will never know if his venture to France was a mistake, but that was his decision which must have been so appealing.
At least we still have the memories of a scintillating player who was the supreme winger of his time.
