Tuivasa-Sheck afraid he’d lost chance to play for Samoa

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck thought he’d blown his chance to represent Samoa when he left the NRL to pursue a rugby union career.

But on his return, conversations with family, and the example set by Tongan NRL players, convinced the Warriors centre to switch allegiances from New Zealand to the country of his birth.

At 31, Tuivasa-Sheck is set for a maiden Samoa cap as the 2022 World Cup runners-up embark on a historic Test tour of England featuring matches in Wigan and Leeds over the coming weeks.

Born in Apia and raised in Auckland, Tuivasa-Sheck is eligible to represent both Samoa and New Zealand, turning out for the latter 20 times before hopping codes to union at the end of 2021.

Tuivasa-Sheck ultimately earned three caps for the All Blacks during a solid two years with Auckland-based Super Rugby outfit the Blues.

Samoa coach Ben Gardiner and Kiwis counterpart Stacey Jones each contacted Tuivasa-Sheck to gauge his availability for the end-of-year Test window after the veteran’s return to the NRL this season.

After already missing his chance to play for Samoa once, Tuivasa-Sheck vowed not to turn his back on the country of his birth.

“It’s always been something that’s been in the back of my mind and I thought I lost the opportunity when I went over to rugby union,” Tuivasa-Sheck told AAP.

“But another opportunity came to come back to the Warriors and international footy wasn’t part of the plan because I knew I’d be a lot older.

“The Kiwis were keen to have me involved and then Toa (Samoa) same. I spoke to my old man, the family, and they said, ‘Why don’t you give Toa Samoa a go’.

“It was something I wanted to tick off before it’s all said and done. That’s not too far away for me.”

Tuivasa-Sheck also credited the wave of Tongan players prioritising their heritage over representing Australia or New Zealand as helping persuade him to follow suit.

Jason Taumalolo, Andrew Fifita, Daniel Tupou and Addin Fonua-Blake have been among elite players to line up for Tonga after earning caps for tier-one nations in recent years.

“You can’t fault all the Tongan brothers making that big move over and that definitely inspired and motivated a lot of the usos to come over to Toa Samoa,” he said.

Gardiner last week credited Tuivasa-Sheck as inspiring Jeremiah Nanai to represent Samoa against England rather than turn out in the Pacific Championships for Australia, with whom the North Queensland forward won the 2022 World Cup.

But Tuivasa-Sheck baulked at suggestions he was the one motivating players to switch allegiances, pointing to the raft of State of Origin players who represented Samoa at the 2022 World Cup.

“That wave started a long time ago,” he said.

“That was definitely not us, that was ‘Rome’ (Jarome Luai) and ‘Critta’ (Stephen Crichton) and ‘Bizza’ (Brian To’o), they’re the ones who started the wave. I’m just glad to be a part of this team.”