A few weeks ago, the Brive rugby club announced the extension of Setareki Bituniyata for 4 more years. The Fijian winger was surprised to see a video of his family’s faces on a digital tablet. “Congrats on your extension,” the woman onscreen says, adding, “we’re proud of you, and mom and dad would be too.”
The Fijian winger, shy and discreet, crushes a tear. A few weeks later, he is still as moved and delighted at the same time to have extended. “It’s a pleasure to stay here for four more years and represent the club, and then it’s a real blessing for my family. “Family”, an important word in the Fijian vocabulary, as his family was essential to his proper development. This is also why he wanted them to come and join him in Brive.
The family, the anchor of the young Fijian
“As soon as I extended the last time with BriveI thought it would be good to bring my family back to Corrèze.” The Covid has been there, successive lockdowns…and distance have separated him from his sons. “It’s very hard to go the long distance especially when my son is born. The only thing I wanted was for them to come so that I could be with them, that we could share good times”.
Today his family is there for years and in his work it has had a positive impact. “Yes, it helped me a lot to motivate myself, in short, it made me happy that’s all! When I go to training, it’s easier than when they were away, when some days I don’t I wasn’t in my trainers. Having them with me is a real pleasure”
And it’s no wonder, but Bituniyata has been performing ever since. Arrived in 2019 from Massy, then in Pro D2, he had only played two Top 14 matches. Now, he is essential in the back lines with 17 matches out of 24 possible. “At the beginning, when I arrived in Brive, I was not sure of playing well in the Top 14. I was too big and not in good physical condition. Today, I try every day to be a good player and a good person on and off the pitch” underlines the Fijian.
The case of the faux-snake in the locker room
He then smiles at the mention of his brothers in arms (“band of brothers”), especially the Fijians. On social networks, he has almost become the mascot of some, who do not hesitate to stage him by making bad jokes. “It’s Motu (Matu’u, hooker extra player of the CAB) and some Fijians” Setareki laughs. “This morning he put a fake snake in my locker room for me. When I opened I was shocked to see this snake in my stuff (laughs). and all the Fijians were looking at me laughing. So yeah , it’s something they often do, they try to scare me. But, it’s for fun, we laugh together all the time, before games and that’s goodconcludes the winger. “If you feel good off the field, on the meadow, everything will be fine”
It is with this certainty that Setareki Bituniyata will go to the front again this Saturday against Toulouse, in a crucial match for maintaining the Top 14. The club will surely need a big “Bitu” to see further.