Saturday 16 April 2016 saw a gathering of players, supporters and friends, all wanting to pay their respects to, and celebrate the life of, this great man.
The Memorial started out with a video of tribute highlighting Seru’s rugby career which began in Fiji, and expanded across the globe. Playing in both the Sevens and 15s format, Seru ran on the pitch for his country Fiji, many times. He then went on to play in New Zealand for the Highlanders, in the UK for Leicester Tigers, in France for Stade Rochelais, as a player/coach in the USA for Lindenwood University and finally did service in Hong Kong for both Discovery Bay Pirates and Hong Kong Scottish.
Hong Kong Football Club pitch saw players from HK Scottish, HK Football Club, HK University, DB Pirates, Valley Fort, Typhoons and Kowloon join together to create teams to play in 3 Memorial games. The first game was a Social friendly; played by many who had “much experience over many years” (the two wingers had 116 years between them). Much heavy breathing and hands on hips was witnessed. This was followed by the Ladies 10s which was competitive, even though it was a first ever game for some.
Finally, a Performance game was played between DB Pirates/HK Scottish (“Pirate Islanders”) and a HK Barbarian team. Players gave their all, some crunching tackles and impressive line breaks. Seru would have been proud of both their performances and the camaraderie on the field. The only thing missing was the Big Man’s laughter coming from the pitch.
The HK Barbarians were victorious in the first two, close games but the Pirate Islanders managed to take a well-deserved win in the third.
A good turnout resulted in good sales of memorial shirts as well as playing shirts, with funds raised going towards the Seru Fund. Currently being administered by DB Pirates, monies donated will go towards projects close to Seru’s heart. The Fund will seek to support work going on in Seru’s home village in Fiji and help complete the building of a school. For more information about the fund please contact [email protected]
Some of the Fund is also planned to form part of a scholarship, to identify and bring a Fijian teenager to Hong Kong to school and play rugby, and hopefully give them a springboard to a brighter future.
In life, Seru was able to bring together people from all corners, to play the game he was so passionate about. Thus, it was most fitting that the same could be done after his passing.
Watch the opening tribute and all three games here:
Opening and tribute to Seru Rabeni, DB Pirates vs HK Barbarians (social men’s game)
DB Pirates vs HK Barbarians (ladies 10s’ game)
Pirate Islanders vs HK Barbarians (men’s performance game)
Photos: Sharon McEneff
