Joe Tauiwi
From the Bay of Plenty Times on the 1st of September 2001:
All of the Bay of Plenty players who made Gordon Tietjens' national rugby sevens teams had to train harder and work longer than anyone else to justify their selection. All, that is, except Joe Tauiwi. Tauiwi's skill for the sevens game and flair with the ball in hand made him a natural. Tauiwi, the father of two young sons Douglas and Jared, died last Friday of cancer aged 34.
His vision and creativity was best showcased on the international sevens stage, with the hardworking halfback making his New Zealand debut in 1994 in Fiji.
He was a key part of New Zealand's three Hong Kong sevens titles from 1994-96, playing 69 games for the national sevens team, spanning 14 tournaments. Tauiwi also played in the World Cup tournament at Hong Kong in 1997 and scored 173 points in total for New Zealand, 25 tries and 24 conversions. His skill also transferred to the 15-a-side game, where he played 63 games for Bay of Plenty between 1989 and 1999, scoring 75 points.
Tietjens said that Tauiwi's part in New Zealand's hat-trick of Hong Kong sevens titles in the mid-1990s could not be overstated. "My Bay of Plenty players always had to work a lot harder and perform better than anyone else just to justify their selection but Joe's justification was always in the way he played. He was someone who was always two or three steps ahead of the opposition and always thinking four phases ahead of the play. His anticipation was incredible.''
Tauiwi lay at Ngongotaha's Parawai Marae, where hundreds of friends stopped in to farewell him. Tauiwi's body was taken back to Katikati's Terereatukahia Marae. His tangi was followed by burial at Tutaetaka Island. |
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